Fans ofMarlon Brandoare in for a treat as the first trailer forWaltzing with Brandohas just been released, showcasingBilly Zane’sastonishing and uncanny transformation into the Hollywood icon. Directed byBill Fishman, the film dives into a lesser-known chapter of Brando’s life: his ambitious attempt to build an eco-friendly paradise on the Tahitian island of Tetiaroa. The film is based on architectBernard Judge’smemoir,Waltzing with Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti, and the movie takes viewers into Brando’s vision of sustainability during the early ’70s, long before environmentalism became cool.
The trailer shows Zane as Brando throughout many of his famous roles, includingThe Godfather,Last Tango in ParisandApocalypse Now, but the tone is decidedly light and puts one in mind of the delightfulZac EfronfilmMe and Orson Wells, which featuredChristian McKaytaking on a similar larger-than-life American cinematic icon. Hopefully Zane will be rewarded for his commitment to the role, with the prosthetics used to change his appearance genuinely mind blowing.
Why Was Billy Zane Drawn to Playing Marlon Brando?
Zane has been attached to the project since 2019, which has given him plenty of time to ruminate on the challenge of embodying one of the most iconic actors of all time.Speaking to Entertainment Weekly at the time, Zane opened up on the difficulties of playing Brando but expressed his excitement at the opportunity of bringing Brando’s lesser-known personality traits to audiences to give fans a more three dimensional view of the man himself, rather than the actor they have become familiar with.
There’s an opportunity here to explore the possiblehuman.[In]Waltzing with Brando, you have this noble pursuit, this insurmountable path of one who is not in great favor in Hollywood. He may be the biggest star in the world — or so they said — or the most famous man…. but he was on the s— list and he was on the outs, and maybe [his] retreat was licking his wounds.
The man was a recluse who moved to an island, yet is up all night on shortwave radio [and] can’t sleep alone. He had many children. It’s like, what led to that? He’s full of contradictions. That was touching to me.
Waltzing with Brandodoesn’t have a release date yet, but stay tuned to Collider for further updates on the project.Waltzing with Brandowill show on the closing night at the Torino Film Festival which is scheduled to run from Nov. 22 to 30 in Turin, Italy. Check out the trailer above.
