After a quiet period following his international breakout in “The White Lotus” season two, Will Sharpe‘s dance card is beginning to fill up. The actor and playwright has a key role in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” which debuted to raves at Sundance; he recently banked Audrey Diwan‘s feature “Emmanuelle” opposite Naomi Watts; and is still expected to star opposite Meg Statler in Netflix’s limited series “Too Much.” Now, the Brit has landed the title role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a television adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play “Amadeus.”
READ MORE: “A Real Pain” Review: Kieran Culkin is superb in Jesse Eisenberg’s moving dramedy
According to a release from Sky, the project will reunite Sharpe with “Giri/Haji” writer and producer Joe Barton who has been a very busy bee on both sides of the Atlantic these days. Barton is also behind the upcoming Netflix feature “The Union” starring Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg and a limited series for the streamer, “Black Doves” starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw, expected to debut this spring.
Sky describes the series as “fresh, intimate,” and “irreverent” and says it “expands and interrogates the mythic rivalry, promising a corrupting symphony of jealousy, ambition and genius. Set within the musical hub of bustling Vienna at the end of the 18th century, twenty-five-year-old Amadeus arrives in the city no longer a child and determined to carve his own path. Recently unemployed and without the management of his father, Amadeus finds an unlikely ally in a young singer who will become his wife, fiery Constanze Weber Mozart. Her connections help bring him into the orbit of the court composer Antonio Salieri, setting the three of them on a collision course that will ultimately define their lives and their legacies for years to come.”
Almost 40 years ago, Shaffer‘s work was adapted into a now-classic feature film, “Amadeus,” directed by Miloš Forman with a screenplay by the playwright. The movie won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture as well as a Best Actor trophy for Sharpe’s “White Lotus” co-star, F. Murray Abraham.
It’s unclear if and when the project will land U.S. distribution.