First-Look Images Reveal That Billy Zane Looks Exactly Like Marlon Brando in Upcoming Biopic

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Marlon Brando is an icon of cinema. Whether you like him or not, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most talented actors we’ve ever seen. He had the pathos; he had the ability to take on the most complex of roles, and that earned him the status of a proper icon.
Well, that and his amazing roles, which include films such as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, On the Waterfront, Last Tango in Paris, and many more.
But Brando’s private life was as dynamic as his career. The actor was known as a problematic person with a difficult personality, which made it hard to work with him on more than one occasion. All of this got even more difficult as Brando got older, and by the time he reached old age, more people wanted to avoid him than work with him.
And while Brando’s life deserves a whole series, one part of his dynamic biography will be the focus of an upcoming biopic, Waltzing with Brando, which will star forgotten Hollywood star Billy Zane as the legendary actor. The first-look images are in, and you will be able to see them in this report.
Waltzing With Brando was announced a while ago, and Variety now reports that the film will officially premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which will be held in the Canadian city later this month. The film will be the closing film of the festival, and knowing the history of TIFF’s movies, this indie film might be a potential hit, even a possible Oscar candidate.
But, it is always tricky to approach such dynamic personalities, especially in an indie movie (remember how Blonde flopped!), and with the general lack of information we have about the movie, we cannot really predict how it will play out, but the TIFF premiere gives us at least some hope.
The film is directed and written by Bill Fishman and is based on the book Waltzing with Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti, which was written by American architect Bernard Judge, who was convinced by Brando to leave America and travel with him to Tahiti to create the world’s first ecologically sustainable sanctuary.
It was Brando’s personal and very ambitious project. The movie will, thus, take place mostly between 1969 and 1974 and will follow Brando’s life and career.
Since this was the period when Brando worked on Coppolla’s The Godfather, the movie will also be a part of the plot, and the first-look image of Zane as Brando was just released by Variety, and it shows Brando on the set of The Godfather:
As you can see for yourselves, the make-up and costume are insanely good, and Billy Zane looks almost exactly like Marlon Brando. Sure, making someone look like another person is easy, but if this image is a good example of the movie’s overall quality, then we are in for a true masterpiece, which is what we are hoping we’ll be getting later this year.
Billy Zane will, as we’ve said, play Brando, while Judge will be played by Jon Heder. So far, there is no theatrical release date for the movie, as the distributor is not yet known, but we will provide you with more updates as soon as they arrive.
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