Willem Dafoe to play Vincent Van Gogh in a biopic on legendary painter

Willem Dafoe, best known for his roles in American Psycho and the Spider-Man trilogy, will play Vincent Van Gogh in the latest biopic on the painter.

This film will be directed by Julian Schnabel, and will focus on the time period when the painter lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France, reports Hollywood Reporter .

The film has been titled At Eternity’s Gate, which is the name of one of Van Gogh’s best remembered paintings. It will be shot on location in France, and will explore the sacrifices the painter made to ensure that he could produce the masterpieces he is now known for.

Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter whose paintings Sunflowers, The Starry Night and his several self-portraits are now considered iconic pieces. He moved to Paris in 1886, which is when he met several avant-garde artists like Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh severed off a part of his ear when his friendship with Gauguin ended.

When asked about this project, Schnabel said, “This is a film about painting and a painter and their relationship to infinity. It is told by a painter. It contains what I felt were essential moments in his life, this is not the official history – it’s my version. One that I hope could make you closer to him.”

Previously, several films have been made on this painters life, such as Robert Altman’s Vincent & Theo and Maurice Pialat’s Van Gogh .

Willem Dafoe will be seen next in Aquaman and Justice League, where he plays Nuidis Vulko, an advisor to Aquaman.