Ragesh Dipu
Shia LaBeouf and Mel Gibson are set to star in the satire ‘Rothchild’ from director Jon S. Baird. Based on the best selling novel by Irvine Welsh, the movie centers on the exotic world of New York’s super-rich class, reports The Wrap. HanWay, which handles international rights, will introduce the feature at the Cannes Film Festival. CAA Media Finance is handling North American rights.
Jon S. Baird directs the movie from the 2014 Black List script by John Patton Ford. According to Deadline, the project’s title is a pun at the wealthy Rothschild group. Shia LaBeouf plays Becket Rothchild, who is described as a charismatic outcast in the family. He tries to find his way back into the family’s fortunes but finds himself at odds with the family patriarch Whitelaw Rothchild, played by Mel Gibson. But Becket has a detailed plan to infiltrate the lives of the nine Rothchild family members including his sinister grandfather Whitelaw Rothchild.
The movie is produced by Unified Pictures along with Keith Kjarval, Tyler Jackson, Lowell Shapiro, and Mike Dill. “Rothchild is a satirical and thrilling ride, and I am elated to be working with a filmmaker like Jon Baird, who not only has an incredible track record of guiding award-winning performances but is crafting this film to be an action-packed cautionary tale on wealth and power,” Kjarval said in a statement.
“Baird has proved to be brilliant at edgy dark comedy bringing Irvine Welsh’s ‘Filth’ to life, then showed his mainstream chops with the beloved ‘Stan and Ollie.’ Here he has a chance to combine all his skills and bring to life a real twist on the classic rags to riches story. The divide between the super rich and the rest of the world is an ever growing one, and it’s both fun and fascinating to delve into its inner bowels along with our hero trying to scramble to the top and claim his piece,” Gabrielle Stewart of HanWay Films also said in a statement. The movie is due to go into production in September 2019 in New York.
Meanwhile, Gibson is all set to star in another project introduced at Cannes a couple of days back. Titled ‘Fatman,’ the action comedy will feature Gibson in the lead role of a rowdy Santa Claus, reports Variety. The movie is written and directed by Ian and Eshom Nelms. The pair is known for ‘Small Town Crime,’ ‘Waffle Street’ and ‘Lost on Purpose.’ LaBeouf’s upcoming show business drama ‘Honey Boy,’ is slated for a release on November 8 by Amazon Studios. Alma Har’el directs the movie from a screenplay by LaBeouf.
