EXCLUSIVE : Anders Danielsen Lie ( The Worst Person in the World ), Bill Pullman ( Independence Day ) and Oscar nominee and Tony winner Laurie Metcalf ( Lady Bird ) have been set to star in biopic Everybody Digs Bill Evans about the acclaimed U.S. jazz pianist and composer.
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Two-time Grammy nominee Grant Gee ( Joy Division ) will direct from a script written by Mark O’Halloran ( Viva! ), based on the book Intermission by Owen Martell.
The synopsis reads: “June 1961, NYC: legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans (Danielsen Lie) has found his musical voice and created the perfect trio, including bass player Scott LaFaro, said to be his soulmate through music. A residency at New York’s Village Vanguard culminates in the live taping of two of the greatest jazz records of all time in one night. Ten days later, LaFaro dies in a car crash. Numb with grief, Evans stops playing. Everybody Digs Bill Evans is the story of what happened next for one of the most influential and gifted figures in 20th century music.”
Producers on the project are Janine Marmot ( Is There Anybody Out There? ) for Hot Property Films and Alan Maher ( Lola ) for Cowtown Pictures. The film will be shot partially on 16mm and in black and white.
Mister Smith Entertainment is launching sales on the project ahead of the American Film Market. CAA Media Finance will co-rep domestic.
Currently in pre-production, the Irish/UK co-production is scheduled to start principal photography in Ireland in early 2025, with financing from Screen Ireland, Section 481 and the UK Global Screen Fund.
Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa ( Little Miss Sunshine ) are executive producers via their Bona Fide Productions label; Greg Martin is executive producer for Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland; John Wallace is executive producer for Cowtown Pictures; and David McLoughlin is executive producer for Metropolitan Films.
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Director Grant Gee stated: “With Anders Danielsen Lie as Bill, Laurie Metcalfe as his mother Mary and Bill Pullman as his father, Harry, we’ve a tremendous – intense, sensitive, warm, troubled – family trio at the heart of the film. It’s a gift to a director!”
Mister Smith Entertainment’s founder and CEO, David Garrett, added: “This movie promises to be a unique and compelling story of how one man navigates his stormy world of family, love and grief through the creation of some of the most sublime music ever performed. And how lucky we are to have Anders Danielsen Lie – himself an incredibly accomplished jazz pianist – to bring Bill Evans back to life, alongside a stellar cast, and with the visionary Grant Gee at the helm.”
Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie is known for his lead roles in The Oslo Trilogy: Reprise (2006), Oslo, August 31st (2011) and the Oscar-nominated film The Worst Person In The World (2021), directed by Joachim Trier, and in the role of Anders Behring Breivik in 22 July (2018) by Paul Greengrass. He also starred in Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper (2016) and in Mia Hansen-Løve’s Bergman Island (2021).
Film, TV and stage vet Pullman will be seen next in the Lifetime special event limited series, The Murdaugh Murders . He recently finished a West End production of Madhouse , a new play by Theresa Rebeck with co-star David Harbour. Also in London he appeared in All My Sons at The Old Vic.
In 2017, Metcalf’s performance in Lady Bird garnered her Academy Award, Golden Globe, British Film Academy, Screen Actors Guild, and Independent Spirt Award nominations for best supporting actress. In TV, she has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on Roseanne and Hacks . She currently stars in The Connors for ABC.
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