Billy Zane will produce and take the lead role in “Waltzing With Brando,” playing Marlon Brando in a film based on a memoir by the iconic actor’s architect, Bernard Judge.
The memoir tells the story of how Brando plucked Judge, an obscure but idealistic Los Angeles architect from his stable existence and convinced him that he should build the world’s first ecologically perfect retreat on a tiny and uninhabitable Tahitian island.
Bill Fishman will write and direct the movie. Additional casting is underway, notably for the role of Judge. The project reunites Fishman and Zane after they worked together on the 1993 Western “Posse.”
The film will be set primarily between 1969 and 1974, a period during which Brando was preparing to star in “The Godfather” and “Last Tango in Paris.” The action will show Brando’s interaction with Judge as they spend time together on the island and work up plans for a paradise getaway far from the public glare at a time when the actor was one of the most famous people on the planet.
Zane, who won the best actor accolade at the Golden Movie Awards in London on Thursday for his role in romantic drama “Lucid,” will soon be seen in “Curfew,” Sky’s street-racing drama series that also stars Sean Bean and Miranda Richardson.
“Waltzing With Brando” is slated to shoot this year.