Another Basquiat project is in the works, this time with Stephan James attached to portray Jean-Michael Basquiat in a limited TV series.
The project will be set during the 1980s, as Basquiat emerges from being an obscure graffiti artist born in Brooklyn to becoming a neo-expressionist painter of rock-star status in Manhattan. The scripted series will also explore Basquiat’s close friendship with Andy Warhol and his early death.
The search is currently on for a writer for the project. James and his brother Shamier Anderson are co-producing through their production company Bay Mills Studios with Boat Rocker Studios.
“We’re grateful to be working with Shamier, Stephan and the entire Bay Mills Studios team to tell the story of a visionary artist whose profound cultural influence only continues to grow with time,” Steve Lescroart, president, Boat Rocker Studios, scripted, said in a statement Thursday.
James and Anderson have a first-look deal with Boat Rocker through their Bay Mills Studios banner.
“I am thrilled to partner with Boat Rocker to bring to life the story of Jean-Michel Basquiat,” James said. “Jean-Michel is an artist I have long revered, and someone who has greatly influenced my work over the years. To embody such a revolutionary, whose influence in the modern era of pop culture is simply immeasurable, will simply be one of the greatest honors of my career.”
READ: Kelvin Harrison Jr. is Set to Star as Jean-Michael Basquiat in Samo Lives
Katie O’Connell Marsh and Nick Nantell are executive producing the project for Boat Rocker while Anderson and James are for Bay Mills Studios. Holly Hubsher is overseeing the project for Bay Mills Studios.
James is also starring in Boat Rocker’s TV adaptation of Hugh Howey’s sci-fi novel Beacon 23 via Spectrum Originals and AMC. Anderson stars in Boat Rocker’s hit sci-fi drama Invasion for Apple TV+, which was recently renewed for a second season.
This is the second Basquiat project in the works, Kelvin Harrison Jr. will embody the legendary artist in a biopic on his life titled Samo Lives Julius Onah is directing and producing the film based on a script he co-wrote with Peter Glanz.