A star-studded crime thriller from Oscar-nominated director Julian Schnabel is coming our way, with Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, and Gerard Butler leading the cast. Schnabel’s In the Hand of Dante film was in production in Italy a couple years back, with an Interim Agreement from SAG-AFTRA to allow filming during the strike while it had been taking place. Based on the novel of the same name by Nick Tosches, In the Hand of Dante finds a piece of history in the clutches of criminals.
Now, IndieWire has given us a new look at Martin Scorsese’s role in the film. The acclaimed director will be playing a character named Isaiah and is only set to appear in the 14th-century segments of the story. The character of Isaiah is meant to represent the highest form of wisdom and, per IndieWire, “Dante seeks his approval when he writes Paradiso, and it takes many visits before Isaiah gives it. Dante was sent to him by Guido Cavalcanti who was his mentor, and visits Isaiah whenever he can over the course of many years while he is in exile.”
According to Deadline’s exclusive report, In the Hand of Dante “revolves around when the original manuscript of the Divine Comedy emerges in the clutches of a black-market smuggling ring in the dangerous underbelly of New York City, weary scholar Nick is called by the mob to authenticate it.”
“Overwhelmed by temptation, Nick defies the mafia and steals the manuscript in a frenzied bid to have it all. He follows a dark and violent path from a metaphorical Hell into Paradise with his love Giulietta, while a parallel tale unfolds: the odyssey of Dante himself, a man who — trapped in a loveless marriage with Gemma and bolstered only by his mentorship under an austere intellectual — escapes to Sicily and creates his greatest work, immortalizing his lost love, Beatrice.”
“Nick and Dante’s timelines weave separate paths and yet the two men are inextricably linked — both lose themselves chasing love, beauty, and the very promise of the divine.”
Schnabel (Before the Night Falls, At Eternity’s Gate, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) directs from a script he wrote based on Tosches’ novel. Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus, The Last Kiss, The Passion of the Christ) and Fortunado Cerlino (Inferno, Medici, Gomorrah) also star. Jon Kilik and Francesco Melzi d’eril produce for MeMo Films, with Olmo Schnabel for TWIN Productions.
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