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Exclusive: Waltzing with Brando, the feature starring Billy Zane as Marlon Brando, is set for North American release via Iconic Releasing.

The film is scheduled for release in the U.S. and Canada on Friday, September 19, 2025. Vmi Worldwide is handling international sales at the Cannes market.

Directed and written by Bill Fishman (Tapeheads), Waltzing with Brando is based on the published memoir by Los Angeles architect Bernard Judge, who was hired by Brando in the late 1960s to design an ecologically self-sustaining retreat on a remote and uninhabitable atoll in Tahiti. What begins as an architectural experiment becomes an eccentric and emotional journey into isolation, celebrity, and the limits of utopian idealism.

You can check out the trailer below, in which Zane bears a striking resemblance to screen icon Brando.

Zane (Titanic) leads a cast that includes Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) as Judge, alongside Camille Razat (Emily In Paris), Alaina Huffman...

The Being Maria trailer reveals a new biopic dramatizing the filming of Marlon Brando's most controversial movie. Written and directed by Jessica Palud, the upcoming French film follows actress Maria Schneider's experiences filming the 1972 erotic drama Last Tango in Paris, her subsequent rise to fame, and the impact the controversial production had on her life and career. Being Maria stars Anamaria Vartolomei in the titular role and Matt Dillion as Brando alongside Céleste Brunnquell, Giuseppe Maggio, Yvan Attal, Marie Gillain, and Jonathan Couzinié.

Now, Kino Lorber has released the first official trailer for Being Maria, finding Schneider as a promising young actress who receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to star in a film from an acclaimed Italian director, Bernardo Bertolucci (Giuseppe Maggio), and starring a beloved American actor, Brando. They get along great initially, but everything changes when the two men secretly plan an unscripted sexual assault scene without her consent.

Viewers are in for a delightful, comedic, and downright strange ride with Bill Fishman's Waltzing With Brando. The long-gestating indie flick stars Billy Zane as legendary Oscar winner Marlon Brando at the height of his powers around the release of The Godfather and Last Tango in Paris. Rather than focus on his career, however, it pulls from architect Bernard Judge's memoir of the same name and follows the actor's efforts alongside Judge to plan out the perfect paradise on a small, uninhabited island in Tahiti. The film offers another eccentric side of Brando that few people get to see as it tracks his and Judge's evolving relationship and understanding of how to build an ecological marvel that keeps the natural beauty of the island alive. Fishman assures, too, that everything down to its wildest scenes are accurate depictions of real anecdotes.

Bill Fishman may be staying in the realm of biopics for his next project after spending time in the world of Marlon Brando. His latest, Waltzing With Brando, adapts Bernard Judge's memoir of the same name and lightheartedly follows Billy Zane as an uncanny lookalike of the Godfather star through some of his greatest roles while he plans a paradise getaway in Tahiti. Rather than unpack the on-screen side of the actor that everyone knows, the film instead shines a light on Brando's other personality traits through his relationship with Judge, the architect roped into his grand island getaway plan. It's still making the rounds at film festivals, but the director confirmed he already has two more subjects he wants to track the relationship between.

Billy Zane has found his next motion picture. The actor, who recently portrayed acting legend Marlon Brando, has signed on for Esx Entertainment's Day of Reckoning.

According to Deadline, Zane is set to star in the upcoming Western with The Vampire Diaries alum Zach Roerig and Killers of the Flower Moon actor Cara Jade Myers. TackleBox Films' Shaun Silva is directing Day of Reckoning, which follows "put-upon lawman John Dorsey (Roerig), who on the verge of losing his wife and his job as sheriff, posses up with a bullish U.S. Marshall Butch Hayden (Zane) to hold outlaw Emily Rouse (Myers) hostage. A battle of wills ensues as Emily turns the posse on themselves, but as her marauding husband and his gang approach, Emily and John realize they will need each other to survive." Day of Reckoning, the twenty-fifth movie from Ali Afshar's Esx Entertainment, will be produced by Afshar,...

Actors transforming into famous figures for biopics isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. In recent years, we’ve seen Marisa Abela’s Amy Winehouse in Back To Black, Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Bob Marley in One Love, Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, and Sebastian Stan’s Donald J. Trump in The Apprentice. But just when the market for such movies may have been running the risk of getting overcrowded, along comes Waltzing With Brando to make us an offer we can’t refuse. That offer? Titanic actor Billy Zane going absolutely all-in to play Marlon Brando in a comedy about The Godfather legend’s efforts to create a sustainable pocket of paradise on a tiny Tahitian island. If it sounds barmy, then that's nothing compared to how it looks — just check out the extraordinary trailer for Bill Fishman’s film below:

If, like us, you started watching this trailer and thought,...

The first trailer for Waltzing With Brando, the new biopic about the iconic Godfather actor has dropped and we are, frankly, blown away by Billy Zane's take on Marlon Brando. The Titanic actor has so completely transformed in the role, it took us more than a few minutes to clock that it even was Billy Zane in the film.

The film, which also stars Napoleon Dynamite star John Heder, the Bill Fishman-directed feature has officially been picked up by Vmi Worldwide for foreign sales, according to exclusive reporting from Variety.

What Is The New Marlon Brando Movie About?

Waltzing With Brando is based on the memoir by Los Angeles-based architect Bernard Judge. In his 2011 book, Waltzing with Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti, Judge recounts his time planning and building a series of rustic bungalows for the iconic actor on a remote Tahitian atoll called Tetiaroa a tiny,...

Yes, that’s Billy Zane beneath those prosthetics.

The “Titanic” alum is unrecognizable as late star Marlon Brando in the first trailer for biopic “Waltzing for Brando.” The feature, written and directed by Bill Fishman, is based on a memoir by Bernard Judge.

The film takes place between 1969 and 1974, with Brando readying to shoot “The Godfather” and “Last Tango in Paris.” During that time, the actor purchased an uninhabitable island in Tahiti and recruited Los Angeles architect Judge, portrayed by Jon Heder, to build the world’s first ecologically friendly retreat.

Richard Dreyfuss, “Emily in Paris” star Camille Razat, Alaina Huffman, Tia Carrere, and James Jagger co-star in the film, which is now seeking a buyer.

The film will close the Torino Film Festival and play the Tahoe Film Festival. Prior to its world premiere, “Waltzing for Brando” was picked up by Vmi Worldwide for foreign sales.

Billed as a comedy,...

Marlon Brando transformed into all different kinds of people on the big screen. He was a dockworker in On the Waterfront, Shakespeare’s Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, and a temperamental and abusive drunk in A Streetcar Named Desire. But it was while he was preparing to become the mafia boss Vito Corleone in The Godfather that he decided to try a new role based in the real world: the founder of an ecological island resort in Tahiti. Playing pretend for so long gave him an edge of boundless confidence...

We’ve already had our fair share of biopics this year. Bob Dylan, Donald Trump, Amy Winehouse, Bob Marley, and the list goes on. No wonder some people were skeptical about the response Bill Fishman’s next directorial venture would generate, with some fearing that the fans had had enough. What they had forgotten was that it was Marlon Brando’s story.

Starring Billy Zane in the titular role, the first trailer of the biopic has just been released. And fans have already indicated that they are all in for seeing the story unfold before their eyes.

Waltzing With Brando is all set to share the tale of Marlon Brando’s Tahitian Dream (and more) Fans are all in for seeing the story unfold || Vmi Worldwide

Marlon Brando has enjoyed many successful moments over the course of his eventful life. While his acting legacy is without an equal in Hollywood,...

The first trailer for Waltzing with Brando, a new film tracking Marlon Brando’s early ’70s plan to create a vacation resort in Tahiti, has been revealed.

Waltzing with Brando stars Billy Zane as Brando and Jon Heder as Bernard Judge, the architect and environmental planner tasked with building the resort. It takes place mainly from 1969 to 1974, during which Brando starred in legendary films like The Godfather and The Last Tango in Paris.

Brando filmed Mutiny on the Bounty in Tahiti in the early 1960s and fell in love with the region, leading him to purchase a small island there. He was deeply committed to sustainability and aimed to infuse this ethos into his new island retreat. The trailer shows Brando bringing the task to Judge, who commends Brando’s ambitions but worries about its practicality. Against turbulent weather, funding issues, and even a lack of running water, Judge and...

Billy Zane transforms into Marlon Brando in the first trailer for Waltzing with Brando. Vmi Worldwide has released the first trailer for the upcoming biopic ahead of its debut at several film festivals, including the Torino Film Festival, the Tahoe Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Waltzing with Brando follows Marlon Brando as he recruits a Los Angeles architect to build the world's first ecologically perfect retreat on a small, uninhabited island in Tahiti. The biopic, which was written and directed by Bill Fishman, is based on a memoir by Bernard Judge which takes place between 1969 and 1974 while Brando was preparing to film The Godfather and Last Tango in Paris. Check out the trailer below.

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Besides Zane, the movie stars Jon Heder, Richard Dreyfuss, Camille Razat, Alaina Huffman, Tia Carrere, and James Jagger.

Waltzing With Brando is expected to...

The first trailer has been revealed showing Billy Zane as Marlon Brando at the peak of his powers in upcoming biopic “Waltzing With Brando.”

The feature, which also stars Jon Heder, has been picked up by Vmi Worldwide for foreign sales.

Written and directed by Bill Fishman, the film is based on a memoir by Bernard Judge which takes place between 1969 and 1974 while Brando was preparing to film “The Godfather” and “Last Tango in Paris.” Alongside Zane and Heder, additional castmembers include the Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss, as well as Camille Razat (“Emily in Paris”), Alaina Huffman, Tia Carrera (“Waynes World”) and Mick Jagger’s son James Jagger.

“Waltzing With Brando” follows Brando (Zane) — then the most famous actor in the world — as he filmed “Mutiny on the Bounty” and bought a tiny and uninhabitable island in Tahiti. His intent was to escape his hectic Hollywood lifestyle and show the world the path to sustainability.

Recently on social media fans were stunned by the resemblance of Billy Zane to Marlon Brando in a still from the new film Waltzing With Brando, which is slated to premiere in 2025. Zane, made up to look like the legendary star in his Godfather role, looks in the photo like...

Billy Zane made headlines when images surfaced of his remarkable transformation into Marlon Brando for an upcoming biopic about the iconic actor. Now, Zane has revealed that the biopic, Waltzing with Brando, will contain an easter egg, calling back to Brando's role in Superman: The Movie.

Waltzing with Brando is an upcoming biopic based on the memoir written by architect Bernard Judge, and tells the story about how the two met and created an ecologically friendly retreat on an island in Tahiti. The film is directed by Bill Fishman, and also stars Tia Carrere, Richard Dreyfuss, Jon Heder, Alaina Huffman, and Rob Corddry. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zane discussed what differentiated the Brando biopic from others in the genre, but also mentions that the film pays a humorous homage to Brando's, Jor-El, in Richard Donner's Superman. "We added this one little Easter egg for the...

Billy Zane recently shared photos of himself portraying The Godfather star Marlon Brando in an upcoming biopic, and the resemblance is uncanny.

Zane (Tombstone), uploaded the striking images via Instagram, with the caption, "2nd Batch of pics from [Waltzing with Brando] burning a hole in my archive. Had to share now the cats out of the bag. The production team were so on point. Thank you all team Wwb!" The shared pictures show a remarkable transformation, as Zane captures that era of Brando almost perfectly. Zane will be portraying the legendary actor in the upcoming film Waltzing with Brando, a biopic chronicling how the actor and architect Bernard Judge created an ecologically friendly retreat on an island in the South Pacific. The official synopsis for the film reads, "Movie star Marlon Brando recruits a Los Angeles architect to build the world's first ecologically perfect retreat on a small, uninhabitable island in Tahiti.

Imagine dipping into a time capsule and emerging with a slice of cinematic history—could there be a more thrilling comeback? That is the electrifying sensation we are getting as Billy Zane is working hard to play Marlon Brando.

Billy, 58, sported no shirt in one of the photos of his upcoming biopic, Waltzing with Brando, where he can be seen assuming the role of the renowned Hollywood star. Have you seen the transformation? The resemblance is uncanny, leaving us with goosebumps and high hopes.

Fans are abuzz, likening Zane’s potential resurgence to Brendan Fraser’s heartwarming comeback with The Whale, and we can’t help but agree. The hours of meticulous research, pouring over Brando’s classic performances and mannerisms, and silent anticipation have all led up to this moment.

Billy Zane on the set of Marlon Brando’s biopic | Instagram: @billyzane

The Return of Billy Zane: A...

Exclusive: Billy Zane portrays Marlon Brando in the upcoming film Waltzing With Brando on set in the late 1960s and early ’70s when Brando purchased the private atoll Tetiaroa in the South Pacific.

It was a time when Brando needed to keep working to fund the environmental projects that he and architect Bernard Judge were undertaking on the island.

“When they called him about the gangster movie, he did it to fund what they were trying to create on Tetiaroa,” said Zane, referring to what would become The Godfather directed by Frances Ford Coppola.

Waltzing With Brando, directed by Bill Fishman, re-creates moments from two of Brando’s landmark pictures: The Godfather and Last Tango In Paris.

Billy Zane re-creates a moment in ‘Waltzing with Brando’ featuring Brando in ‘The Godfather’

The film’s based on the memoir Judge penned called Waltzing with Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti.

The...

Billy Zane is set to take on the role of legendary actor Marlon Brando in a new film project called Waltzing With Brando. Zane will also produce the film, which is based on the memoir by the actor’s architect, Bernard Judge.

If you’re not familiar with the memoir, it tells the story of how “Brando plucked Judge, an obscure but idealistic Los Angeles architect from his stable existence and convinced him that he should build the world’s first ecologically perfect retreat on a tiny and uninhabitable Tahitian island.”

The story for the film will be set between 1969 and 1974, “a period during which Brando was preparing to star in The Godfather and Last Tango in Paris. The action will show Brando’s interaction with Judge as they spend time together on the island and work up plans for a paradise getaway far from the public glare at a...

If you uploaded Billy Zane‘s face into one of those apps that compare faces to other celebrities’ faces, you’d probably get Marlon Brando. And it seems like Zane himself realized that, because he is set to play the legendary actor himself in Waltzing with Brando, a biopic based on a memoir by Brando’s architect, Bernard Judge. […]

The post Billy Zane to Play Marlon Brando in Biopic ‘Waltzing With Brando’ appeared first on /Film.

Marlon Brando is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors of all time, while Billy Zane is, um, not. Nevertheless, the Titanic villain has signed on to play The Godfather star in the indie movie Waltzing With Brando, which Zane will also produce. Bill Fishman is writing and directing the film, which is based on a memoir by Bernard Judge, a Los Angeles-based architect whom Brando hired to build the world's first ecologically perfect retreat on a tiny and uninhabitable Tahitian island. The story will largely take place between 1969 and 1974, when Brando and Judge spent time on …...

Billy Zane will produce and take the lead role in “Waltzing With Brando,” playing Marlon Brando in a film based on a memoir by the iconic actor’s architect, Bernard Judge.

The memoir tells the story of how Brando plucked Judge, an obscure but idealistic Los Angeles architect from his stable existence and convinced him that he should build the world’s first ecologically perfect retreat on a tiny and uninhabitable Tahitian island.

Bill Fishman will write and direct the movie. Additional casting is underway, notably for the role of Judge. The project reunites Fishman and Zane after they worked together on the 1993 Western “Posse.”

The film will be set primarily between 1969 and 1974, a period during which Brando was preparing to star in “The Godfather” and “Last Tango in Paris.” The action will show Brando’s interaction with Judge as they spend time together on the island and work up...

Billy Zane has taken the lead role of Marlon Brando in Waltzing With Brando, by writer and director Bill Fishman, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The film, which Zane will also produce, is based on a 2011 memoir by Los Angeles-based architect Bernard Judge, Waltzing With Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti. During the early 1970s, Judge found himself living on an unpopulated atoll in the South Pacific with his client, a Godfather-era Brando, as they built an environmentally sustainable private retreat.

There's no word on who will play Judge. Zane, whose recent films include Adventure Club and Sniper: Ultimate Kill, will also ...

Billy Zane has taken the lead role of Marlon Brando in Waltzing With Brando, by writer and director Bill Fishman, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The film, which Zane will also produce, is based on a 2011 memoir by Los Angeles-based architect Bernard Judge, Waltzing With Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti. During the early 1970s, Judge found himself living on an unpopulated atoll in the South Pacific with his client, a Godfather-era Brando, as they built an environmentally sustainable private retreat.

There's no word on who will play Judge. Zane, whose recent films include Adventure Club and Sniper: Ultimate Kill, will also ...