It’s very hard to argue over Billy Wilder being one of the all time great filmmakers. His resume includes stone-cold classics like “Double Indemnity,” “Some Like it Hot,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “The Apartment,” “The Lost Weekend,” and “Ace in the Hole.”
However, director Stephen Frears has decided to not make a film about Wilder’s peak years, but rather one tackling the declining period of his career — more notably, the making of 1978’s ill-received “Fedora.”
Christoph Waltz is set to star as Wilder in Frears’ aptly titled “Wilder & Me.” Maya Hawke, John Turturro, and Jon Hamm complete the cast. Two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father) will pen the screenplay. Here’s the synopsis:
Hawke will play Calista, a young musician whose life takes on a whole new meaning while working on the set of Billy Wilder’s film Fedora. Waltz will play legendary film director Wilder, known for classics including Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment. Turturro will play his lifelong friend and screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond. Hamm will play famed actor William Holden.
An “early 2025” shoot is being eyed for the film. 82-year-old Frears, who, the last decade, has been a shell of his former self, is the filmmaker behind such key titles as “The Hit,” “My Beautiful Laundrette,” “The Grifters,” “High Fidelity” and “Dirty Pretty Things.”