Julian Schnabel crime thriller “The Hand of Dante” has secured an interim agreement to resume production with stars Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa and Gerard Butler attached, TheWrap has learned.
Helmed by the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind “At Eternity’s Gate,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Before Night Falls,” the picture is based on Nick Tosches’ novel of the same name.
Currently in production in Italy, the picture concerns the original manuscript of “The Divine Comedy” just as it mysteriously pops up on the black market. Isaac plays Nick, a weary scholar brought in by New York City’s organized crime elements for the purpose of authentication.
It’s when Nick decides to deal the manuscript, however, that he’s put on a dark and violent path from a metaphorical Hell into Paradise with his love Giulietta. A parallel tale unfolds: the odyssey of Dante (Isaac) 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.
Producers will include Jon Kilik, Francesco Melzi d’eril for MeMo Films and Olmo Schnabel for TWIN Productions. Martin Scorsese will executive produce alongside DreamCrew, Screen Capital/Screen One and Tribune Pictures. Isaac will executive producer through his production company Mad Gene Media alongside Schnabel.
WME Independent and CAA Media Finance are handling domestic sales and WME Independent is handling international sales.
Deadline first reported this news.
