EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has acquired In the Hand of Dante, the latest film from Oscar-nominated director Julian Schnabel.
The movie, featuring a stellar ensemble cast including Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Louis Cancelmi, Sabrina Impacciatore, Franco Nero, Benjamin Clementine, Paolo Bonacelli, Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino, and Jason Momoa, debuted last year at the Venice Film Festival. There, Schnabel was presented with the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award for his significant contributions to cinema.
Schnabel’s newest work since his 2018 Oscar-nominated portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh, At Eternity’s Gate, is an adaptation of Nick Tosches’ 2002 novel. Isaac performs in dual roles: as 21st-century New York author Tosches and as 14th-century Dante Alighieri. Nick is contracted by a mafia boss to authenticate and subsequently pilfer a priceless manuscript believed to be Dante’s original handwritten Divine Comedy. This task thrusts Nick into an underworld that both repulses and implicates him. The narrative transcends time to illustrate how avarice, faith, desire, and the human search for meaning are perpetually recurring themes.
Nick’s quest for the masterpiece ultimately reveals his true identity to himself, both as Nick and as Dante. Blending elements of a gritty crime drama, a profound spiritual journey, and a dark comedy, the film transforms a thriller about a stolen book into a meditation on immortality and the transcendent influence of art and affection.
Schnabel and Louise Kugelberg are credited with adapting Tosches’ novel. The film’s producers include Jon Kilik, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Olmo Schnabel, Gabriele Bebe Moratti, Vito Schnabel, and Julian Schnabel.
Julian Schnabel was recently honored at the Texas Film Awards, an event celebrating filmmakers and talent with connections to the Lone Star State. Although a Brooklyn native, Schnabel spent his upbringing in the surfing border town of Brownsville, TX, a place that served as a creative wellspring for him as both an artist and a director.
CAA Media Finance and WME Independent collaboratively managed domestic representation, with WME also overseeing international sales.