Sky’s limited series adaptation of Amadeus has cast Antonio Salieri. Paul Bettany is set to star as the renowned composer. He will appear opposite The White Lotus star Will Sharpe as Mozart. This is a new adaption of Peter Shaffer’s award-winning 1979 stage play which featured Tim Curry and Mark Hamill, at various stages, as Mozart. This is badged as a “fresh, intimate, irreverent” reimagining.
Nearly forty years ago the stage play was adapted into a movie by Milos Forman. That movie swept through awards season, hoovering up plaudits and gongs all over the world. It dominated the Oscars in 1984 and won Best Picture. It also earned F. Murray Abraham the Best Actor award for his role as Salieri. Abraham is now a co-star of Will Sharpe on The White Lotus.
Overall, Amadeus was nominated for 53 awards and received 40, including eight Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Directors Guild of America award.
It is the most recent film to have more than one nomination in the Academy Award for Best Actor category, for both its leads.
In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”
Giri/Haji writer/producer Joe Barton is writing the script. Like the movie and the play, it will explore the famous rivalry in 18th-century Vienna between Mozart and Salieri. Salieri’s envy turns vengeful as he uses any means necessary to thwart Mozart and protect his position in the establishment.
Julian Farino and Alice Seabright will direct, with Megan Spanjian, Michael Jackson, and Stephen Wright executive produce.
Filming begins in Hungary this Spring.
Amadeus, the movie, was also famously the inspiration for Austrian pop star Falco when he wrote his biggest hit, Rock Me Amadeus. To date, the single is the only German-language song to peak at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which it did on 29 March 1986. It was also number one in the UK.
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