The Grand Budapest Hotel’s Ralph Fiennes has landed himself the lead role in Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of Paul Auster’s, Mr Vertigo.
Auster’s novel is another project in which Gilliam has spent a number of years trying to get off the ground. Gilliam announced in 2011 he would be working on adapting the book for the big screen. Fiennes was also his number one choice for the role, but with the studios didn’t deem Fiennes a bankable enough name to head up the movie. Looks like Gilliam finally got his way on this one.
Set in the late 1920s, the action follows Walter Claireborne Rawley – a Saint Louis orphan taught to walk on air by mysterious Hungarian Jew, Master Yehudi. Joining a vaudeville act with two others, they travel through mythic Americana and encounter sinners, thieves, clan members and the mob along the way.
Also in the news – Miles Teller wins coveted role in Top Gun: Maverick
Gilliam, who spent a large amount of time trying to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote off the ground, has now come across another obstacle in its US release. The film, which stars Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce and received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, is now without a US distributor; thanks to a legal battle with Amazon Studios.
Fiennes can next be seen as Professor James Moriarty in the Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly-led comedy Holmes and Watson. He will also be providing his voice for the upcoming The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle alongside Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr., Marion Cotillard, John Cena and Emma Thompson.
