Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who was nominated for an Oscar for Scorsese’s Silence, is making his directorial debut with the revenge-thriller Bastard.
Jordan Horowitz (La La Land) is producing through his Original Headquarters company.
Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff of Sikelia Prods. are executive producing. Topic, First Look Media’s entertainment studio, is financing.
Prieto will direct from an original script by Bill Gullo.
Production is planned to start in the first quarter of 2018.
Adam Pincus and Annie Marter will oversee for Topic.
Prieto, a native of Mexico, started his career shooting TV commercials at age 22, then moved into features in 1992. He gained prominence with “Amores Perros” in 2000 and was nominated for his first Oscar Award in 2005 for Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee.
His other cinematography credits include “Argo,” “Frida,” “8 Mile,” “The 25th Hour, “21 Grams,” “Babel,” “Alexander,” “State of Play,” “Broken Embraces,” “Water for Elephant,” and “We Bought a Zoo” along with the HBO series “Vinyl.”
Prieto directed his first short, “Likeness,” which starred Elle Fanning and premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Fest.
“Rodrigo’s work as a cinematographer encompasses some of the most beautifully photographed films and we’re looking forward to seeing his vision come to life as a feature film director,” said Michael Bloom, president of First Look Media. “Combined with Bill’s captivating script and the producing dream team of Scorsese, Emma and Jordan, we’re absolutely thrilled to be a part of this project.”