Late actor Gene Wilder is finally getting the biopic treatment as “Riff Raff” and “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” filmmaker Dito Montiel has been tasked to helm the project, which has been authorized by the Wilder Estate, who have given the blessing for it to move ahead after years of trying to get one in front of cameras.
Deadline, who first reported on the exciting project update, has added that the untitled biopic has tasked screenwriter Jeremy Roth (“Love, Victor,” “How I Met Your Mother”) to pen the script for Montiel. How the outlet describes the pic, it will “explore the man behind the iconic performances, tracing his rise from a shy young theater actor to one of cinema’s most singular comedic voices, while examining the personal struggles, relationships, and challenges that shaped both his life and work.”
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Known for his charming comedic characters, Wilder starred in films such as “Blazing Saddles,” “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory,” “Young Frankenstein,” “The Producers,” the live-action version of “The Little Prince,” and made some two-handers with contemporary Richard Pryor (who just happened to help co-write “Blazing Saddles” with Mel Brooks and other writers).
Wilder famously had a whirlwind love affair with fellow comedian and “SNL” alumna Gilda Radner; the couple was married in 1984, but Radner would tragically pass away in 1989 from ovarian cancer. His feature workload after Gilda’s death was sparse as he only made three movies between 1990 and 2005, as he mostly did TV work, including the short-lived NBC sitcom “Something Wilder.”
A producing team assembled includes Aimee Schoof, Isen Robbins, and Megan Freels Johnston at Intrinsic Value Films (“Queen of the Ring,” “5lbs of Pressure”) alongside Mgmt Entertainment‘s Josh Kesselman (“The Great,” “Parish”).
“Gene Wilder was one of those rare people who was somehow funnier and sadder than everyone else in the room at the same time. That’s not a character. That’s a life,” Montiel said in an official statement. “I couldn’t say no to that.”
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