Press.disney.co.uk
Searchlight Pictures announced that Aziz Ansari will make his feature directorial debut which will star Academy Award® Nominee Bill Murray (The French Dispatch, Lost in Translation). Ansari (“Master of None”) who also wrote the script, plays a role in the film, and is producing with Youree Henley. Taylor Friedman and Cameron Chidsey are overseeing for Searchlight Pictures.
The film is based on Atul Gawande’s non-fiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Searchlight is developing the untitled project and will release the film theatrically in 2023.
“Aziz Ansari is an incredible talent and, with this script, he brings a singular combination of insightful humor and pathos,” said Searchlight Presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with him on his feature directorial debut which is long overdue, and of course working with the genius Bill Murray once again.”
Ansari is a two time Primetime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and a nominee for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for Netflix’s “Master of None.” He recently released his 6th standup special for Netflix titled, “Nightclub Comedian” and was director and co-writer of the acclaimed “Master of None: Moments in Love.”
Murray is an Academy Award® Nominee for his starring role in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. He recently starred in Wes Anderson’s critically acclaimed The French Dispatch as well as Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Coppola’s On the Rocks. Other credits also include Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Moonrise Kingdom.
Ansari is represented by WME, Yorn, Levine, Barnes, Krintzman, Rubenstein, Kohner, Endlich & Gellman, 3Arts Entertainment and Ocean Avenue Entertainment. Murray is repped by Nochimson Law.
About Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures is a global specialty film company that develops, produces, finances and acquires motion pictures for both worldwide theatrical and streaming releases. It has its own marketing and distribution operations, and is part of The Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, the company’s titles have grossed over $5 billion worldwide, amassing 43 Academy Awards including five Best Picture winners since 2009: Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, The Shape of Water, and Nomadland; 49 BAFTA Awards, and 28 Golden Globe Awards. Searchlight recently released Guillermo del Toro’s Academy Award-nominated Nightmare Alley, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, as well as Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Oscar-nominated and award-winning documentary feature Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) with Hulu and in partnership with Disney’s Onyx Collective. Upcoming releases include the Hulu Original Limited Series “The Dropout” from Michael Showalter, Mimi Cave’s FRESH, Sophie Hyde’s Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Tom George’s See How They Run, Andrew Ahn’s Fire Island, Mark Mylod’s The Menu, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, and Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light. The company includes Searchlight Television, which develops and produces series for streaming, network, and cable partners.
Disney Studios UK Publicity
Victoria Cox
Edith Thomas