Big Lebowski Spin-Off Moving Forward with John Turturro
The Coen Brothers are content to let their 1998 classic crime comedy The Big Lebowski stand alone, but “The Dude” and his world live on in popular culture, thanks to conventions, homages — Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) new look in Avengers: Endgame — and even in commercial cameos by Jeff Bridgeshimself. John Turturro first announced his interest in reprising the role of Jesus Quintana, the macho bowling ball-licking sex-offender who goes “click,” in a spin-off movie about his character back in 2014, but ran into some legal complications about the ownership of the character over the next several years.
Whatever those legal complications were — Turturro publicly claimed that the Coen Brothers stole the character of Jesus from him — they seem to have been resolved because Screen Media has acquired the rights to The Jesus Rolls (formerly Going Places) and slated the spin-off for release in early 2020. Turturro wrote, directed and will star in the movie, which he describes as “a transgressive film about the stupidity of men who try and fail and try better to understand and penetrate the mystery of women.”
‘The Jesus Rolls’ follows a trio of misfits whose irreverent, sexually charged dynamic evolves into a surprising love story. But when they make enemies with a gun-toting hairdresser, their journey becomes one of constant escape from the law.
The cast includes Bobby Cannavale, Audrey Tautou, Jon Hamm, Susan Sarandon and Pete Davidson.
Image courtesy of Working Title Films
