Terrence Malick will direct "Che," a biopic that will star Benicio Del Toro as revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Malick also wrote the script.
Budgeted at $40 million, the film is produced by River Road Entertainment, VIP/Rising Star, Morena Films, Laura Bickford, Steven Soderbergh, Del Toro and Fernando Sulichin. Philip Elway and Andreas Schmid are executive producers. Film is being financed by River Road and VIP.
The film is scheduled for a four-month South American shoot to begin in July.
Javier Bardem is planning to take a supporting role in the pic.
At the American Film Market, former Studio Canal subsid Wild Bunch will rep "Che" in all territories except the U.S. and Spain. It's the shingle's biggest pic as an indie outfit.
Bill Pohlad's River Road retains North American rights, with Spanish distribution going through Morena.
Malick brings a certain firsthand experience to the project. When the Bolivian army murdered the Argentinian-born 39-year-old Guevara in 1967, Malick was in the country to write a piece on Guevara's guerrillas for the New Yorker.
Walter Salles' "The Motorcycle Diaries," which bowed at the recent Sundance Film Festival, starred Gael Garcia Bernal as the pre-revolutionary Guevara. Malick's pic will focus on the last part of Guevara's life.
River Road has a first-look deal with Focus Features, which acquired "Motorcycle Diaries" at the fest.
The radical is also the subject of "Traveling With Che Guevara," a documentary directed by Gianni Mina. Made during the production of "The Motorcycle Diaries," it focuses on Guevara's traveling companion, Alberto Granado. Now 81, he served as a technical adviser on the Salles film, in which he was portrayed by Rodrigo de la Serna.
"Traveling With Che Guevara" screened in the Panorama section at the recent Berlin Film Festival.
(Michael Fleming contributed to this report.)
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com