Jeffrey Wright and Octavia Spencer are set to co-star in Chinonye Chukwu and Tony Kushner’s big-screen adaptation of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” at Focus Features and Amblin, Variety has confirmed.
Wright will lead as Willy Loman, and Spencer will play his wife, Linda Loman.
The two-act tragedy, which first premiered on Broadway in 1949, follows an exhausted traveling salesman who tries to start prioritizing his family over his grueling career after a near-fatal car accident and a fruitless business trip to Boston.
“Death of a Salesman”, which won a Tony for best play and a Pulitzer Prize for drama, has been adapted for the screen before. László Benedek’s 1951 rendition, starring Fredric March and Mildred Dunnock, earned five Oscar nominations. The show was also adapted into a TV movie in 1985, with Dustin Hoffman and Kate Reid playing Willy and Linda, respectively.
Producers include Cindy Tolan, Kristie Macosko Krieger via Amblin Entertainment and Spencer via Orit Entertainment. Kushner will also serve as a producer.
Wright, a seven-time Emmy nominee, earned a best actor nomination at last year’s Academy Awards for “American Fiction”. He recently starred in Wes Anderson’s fantastical family dramedy “The Poenician Scheme” as well as Spike Lee’s NYC thriller “Highest 2 Lowest.”
Spencer won an Oscar in 2012 for her supporting turn in “The Help.” She was also nominated in the best supporting actress category in 2017 and 2018 for “Hidden Figures” and “The Shape of Water,” respectively. She was recently heard voicing Asmodius in “Smurfs” and is in pre-production for her matriarchal horror sequel “Ma 2.”
The film is the latest collaboration between Focus Features and Amblin, following Chloé Zhao’s Shakespearean historical drama Hamnet, starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. That film is set for release on Nov. 27.
Wright is represented by CAA, Strategic Public Relations and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Spencer is represented by CAA, Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. Chukwu is represented by Entertainment 360, CAA and The Gochman Law Group. Kushner is represented by CAA and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham.
Deadline was first to report the news of the casting.
