Christoph Waltz is Set to Play Hollywood Legend Billy Wilder in New Film BILL WILDER & ME
Christoph Waltz is set to play Hollywood legend Billy Wilder in a new film project from director Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Hit) and producer Jeremy Thomas titled Billy Wilder & Me. The film is based on the book by Jonathan Coe and it’s described as “part coming-of-age story and part true-life portrait of Wilder.” The film looks to capture “a heroic icon of Hollywood’s golden era for all cinema lovers.”
The story is set in the summer of 1977, “an innocent young woman begins working for famed director Billy Wilder and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of Fedora. When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.”
The script for the film is being written by Christopher Hampton (Atonement, The Father, The Son), who said in a statement: “From the time of our first meeting in Los Angeles in the early eighties, Billy Wilder was extremely kind and encouraging to me. Jonathan Coe’s wonderful novel has provided the perfect opportunity to express my gratitude and my admiration for one of the undisputed giants of cinema history.”
Frears said: “Europe and Hollywood. Hollywood and Europe. The most interesting dilemma in the cinema.”
Waltz added: “Billy Wilder said, ‘You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning.’ A Stephen Frears movie from a Christopher Hampton script produced by Jeremy Thomas should do the trick for me.”
Billy Wilder is the director of films such as Sunset Blvd., The Apartment and The Seven Year Itch. This should make for an interesting movie!
Source: Variety