Yorgos Lanthimos is set to direct an adaptation of “The Man in the Rockefeller Suit,” which is development at Fox Searchlight Television, a rep for the division confirmed to TheWrap. It is based on the best-selling book by Mark Seal.
David Gilbert is adapting the screenplay for the limited series, which will tell the true story of Clark Rockefeller, a gregarious, successful, and mysterious descendant of the Rockefeller clan. When his wife Sandra begins to suspect that Clark isn’t who he says he is, his decades-long web of deception slowly begins to unravel.
Lanthimos and Fox Searchlight worked together earlier this year on “The Favourite,” which earned 10 Oscar nominations – among them Best Picture and Best Director with Olivia Colman winning for Best Actress.
The project was originally set to be a feature, with Pablo Trapero previously attached to direct in 2016. Benedict Cumberbatch was also at one point attached to star as the famous con-artist, and David Bar Katz was set to write. Though the project has changed direction, Donald De Line remains the executive producer, now with Lanthimos and Element Pictures as well.
Deadline was first to break the news that Lanthimos is directing the adaptation.
16 White Actors Miscast in Non-White Roles, From Mickey Rooney to Emma Stone (Photos)
Katharine Hepburn in "Dragon Seed" (1944) Caucasian Hepburn played a Chinese woman in this big-screen adaptation of the Pearl S. Buck novel.
MGM
Marlon Brando in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956) Brando starred as an Okinawan translator for the U.S. Army in this comedy about the American occupation of the island nation.
MGM
John Wayne in "Conquerer" (1956) Wayne was cast as Mongol conquerer Genghis Khan in what's considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time.
RKO Radio Pictures
Charlton Heston in "Touch of Evil" (1958) Heston starred as Ramon Miguel Vargas in the 1958 crime film, a Mexican narcotics officer.
Universal
Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961) More caricature than character, Rooney starred as the buck-toothed, Japanese Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 film, which has faced volumes of criticism since.
Paramount Pictures
Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" (1961) Wood plays a Puerto Rican in the 1961 film, although she was Russian-American.
United Artists
Laurence Olivier in "Othello" (1965) Not only did the white actor play a Moor in 1965's "Othello," he did so while wearing blackface.
Warner Bros.
Al Pacino in "Scarface" (1983) Pacino plays a Cuban gangster in the 1983 film, and many criticized his over-the-top, offensive accent.
Universal
Anthony Hopkins in "Mask of Zorro" (1998) Welsh actor Hopkins starred as the Spanish Zorro, a.k.a. Don Diego de la Vega in the 1998 film.
Tristar
Rob Schneider in "50 First Dates" (2004) Schneider seems to play a different ethnicity in every Adam Sandler movie. In "The Waterboy" he was the "You can do it!" guy, in "Big Daddy," he was a Middle-Eastern Delivery man, and in "50 First Dates," he plays a native Hawaiian. Badly.
Columbia Pictures
Mike Myers in "The Love Guru" (2008) Myers played an Indian-American Guru in the roundly panned movie, in which he dressed up a lot of racist jokes in a terrible accent.
Every character from "21" (2008) The movie follows a group of math students who come up with a card counting strategy to win big in Vegas. While the movie had a predominantly white cast, the real life MIT students were all Asian-American.
Sony
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (2010) Gyllenhaal plays a Middle-Eastern prince in the film, which many called "insulting" and "the perfect example of whitewashing."
Johnny Depp in "Lone Ranger" (2013) Like Mara, Johnny Depp played a Native American in Disney's film, which sparked outrage among fans and critics despite the actor's claims that his great-grandmother had mostly Cherokee blood.
Emma Stone in "Aloha" (2015) Stone played a Chinese/Swedish/Hawaiian woman in this critically and commercially disappointing Cameron Crowe romantic-comedy.