☰

DazeBlog

Eternal Sunshine Screenwriter Sets Directing Debut With Arty Where Is Rocky II?

PARIS — Pierre Bismuth, the French artist who nabbed an original screenplay Oscar for co-writing “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” is set to make his directorial debut with “Where Is Rocky II?”

Weaving fiction and documentary-style footage, “Where Is Rocky II?” is a multilayered thriller revolving around Bismuth’s near-obsessive search for a mysterious object, believed to be a fake rock that was created by artist Ed Ruscha in 1976 and reportedly hidden in the Californian desert.

On top of hiring a private detective to uncover the truth about the object, Bismuth taps two screenwriters to come up with a fiction story chronicling the search for Ruscha’s rock.

Gregoire Gensollen, who currently serves as senior VP of international distribution and strategy at FilmNation, is producing “Where Is Rocky II?” and has enlisted screenwriter duo DV DeVincentis (“High Fidelity” and the upcoming Johnny Depp starrer “The Night Stalker”) and Anthony Peckham (“Invictus,” “Sherlock Holmes”), to take part in the project.

Related Stories

concert crowd and stock arrow VIP+

New Live Music Data Suggests Cautious Optimism

Aldis Hodge as Alex Cross

'Cross' Trailer: Aldis Hodge Is Hot on the Trail of a Killer in New Look at Amazon's Alex Cross Series

The producer is kicking off an Indiegogo campaign today, aiming to raise $150,000 to shoot the fiction portion of the movie. The campaign ( igg.me/at/whereisrockyII) will be live for 32 days through February 20.

Popular on Variety

“For me, ‘Where Is Rocky II?’ is about more than Ed Ruscha and finding his hidden art. At the core, it is a film about how we project fantasies and how works of art can be the perfect object of fantasy,” said Bismuth.

Gensollen also said the film gives audiences a behind-the-scene look at the art industry through the eyes of the detective, who knows little about art before taking on Bismuth’s mission.

Personalities from the film and art worlds will be featured, including Mike White; Michael Govan, topper of LACMA; Philippe Vergne, director of MOCA; Eli Broad, philanthropist and founder of the Broad Museum; and Connie Butler, the chief curator of the Hammer Museum.

Pic is being backed by ZDF/Arte and select European funds. The Sundance Institute was key in finding finding the screenwriters, per Gensollen.

Pic is due to be completed in December.

 

Read More About:

Jump to Comments

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXKBjp%2BgpaVfnLmwrsClZp6slae7oriMrKynq5ieu6Z50pypnp2erL%2BqwMSrZKydpKh6pbXRnpqtoZ6ceqWxwa6rZq%2BZqbVurdGtsGavmJq%2FpnnIrGSrp5Ogxm61yGZoa2hhaX16gpRxZg%3D%3D

Martina Birk

Update: 2024-08-05

<< Her Pajamas Are Adorable and Comfortable What's Not to Love?

Bolsonaro sacks Brazil's controversial education minister >>