Russell Crowe and Aisling Franciosi to star in Sam Taylor-Johnson's 'Rothko'

Russell Crowe, Aisling Franciosi, Jared Harris, and Michael Stuhlbarg, form the star-studded cast for Sam Taylor-Johnson's new film, Rothko. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the director's husband and longtime partner, will also appear in the movie as per The Hollywood Reporter. The film follows Kate Rothko, the child of renowned American painter Mark Rothko, who became embroiled in a high-profile legal fight to preserve her father's estate and return his work to the public.

Rothko- Story of a daughter saving her father's legacy

Russell Crowe, who has starred in films such as The Gladiator, LA Confidential, and A Beautiful Mind, will play artist Mark Rothko, the article revealed. Aisling Franciosi, who is best known for her role in the 2018 film The Nightingale, will play Rothko's daughter Kate. The script by Lara Wood is based on Lee Seldes' book The Legacy of Mark Rothko, and it tells the tale of Kate Rothko's unapologetic 'David vs. Goliath' in which she does all that she can do to actually fulfill her father's wishes regarding his legacy.

Mark Rothko, an esoteric abstract painter and one of America's greatest artists of the twentieth century, was a revered American painter of Lithuanian-Jewish descendants who denied belonging to any art movement. He was born in 1903 and died by suicide in 1970, having left behind two adolescent children one of whom, Kate, was forced to take up the legal tussle at the age of 19. Rothko is an ageless tale about right versus wrong, not just a film about a talented painter.  It's Kate Rothko's adventure to safeguard her father's groundbreaking paintings from the fraudulent men who wronged him and stole his art; it's a confrontation with powerful men who will stop at nothing to destroy him, the director said in the interview.

A Million Little Pieces, Nowhere Boy, and Fifty Shades of Grey are among the films directed by the filmmaker. Along with Sam Taylor-Johnson and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jared Freedman and David Silverton will produce the film. Jonathan Schwartz and Logan Lerman will executive produce the film, which is set to begin filming soon. Academy Award title holder Colleen Atwood as costume designer, cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, and production designer Mark Friedberg have already been added to the crew of the film, according to the article.

With inputs from PTI