Russell Crowe, Aisling Franciosi to act in Sam Taylor-Johnson's Rothko

Also starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the film will be about Kate Rothko, daughter of US painter Mark Rothko, who gets drawn into a legal battle to honour her father's legacy
Russell Crowe, Aisling Franciosi to act in Sam Taylor-Johnson's Rothko
Russell Crowe, Aisling Franciosi to act in Sam Taylor-Johnson's Rothko

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson has roped in Russell Crowe, Aisling Franciosi, Jared Harris and Michael Stuhlbarg for her upcoming feature film Rothko. The filmmaker's husband and frequent collaborator, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, will also star in the film.

Rothko is about Kate Rothko, the daughter of revered US painter Mark Rothko, who gets drawn into a well-publicised legal battle to honour her father's legacy and bring his art back to the people.

Crowe, the lead of The Gladiator, LA Confidential and A Beautiful Mind, will essay the role of artist Mark Rothko. Franciosi, known for starring in the 2018 film The Nightingale, will portray Rothko's daughter Kate.

Writer Lara Wood has adapted the film's screenplay from the book The Legacy Of Mark Rothko by Lee Seldes.

Mark Rothko was the celebrated American painter of Lithuanian-Jewish descent who refused to adhere to any art movement but is generally identified as an abstract expressionist and known as one of America's greatest painters of the 20th Century. He was born in 1903 and died in 1970 from suicide, leaving behind two young children including Kate who had to take up the legal battle aged only 19.    

"Rothko is not just a film about the great artist, but rather a timeless story about right versus wrong. It's Kate Rothko's journey to protect the seminal paintings from the corrupt men who betrayed her father and stole his art; it is a reckoning with men in positions of power who try everything to destroy her father's legacy," says Sam Taylor-Johnson.    

The filmmaker's directorial credits include films like A Million Little Pieces, Nowhere Boy, and Fifty Shades of Grey.

Rothko, which is expected to start rolling soon, will be executive produced by Jonathan Schwartz and Logan Lerman. Jared Freedman and David Silverton will produce the film along with Sam Taylor-Johnson and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

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