TORONTO – Nick Tosches’ 2002 novel “In the Hands of Dante”, recently adapted to film and directed by Julian Schnabel, is now in post-production. Tosches, whose grandparents emigrated from Foggia, Puglia to New York in the late 19th century, began his writing career for Rock Magazines Creem and Rolling Stone in the 70s, before penning his breakout biography of Jerry Lee Lewis – which charmed some notable industry professionals in the entertainment world. 

Actor Johnny Depp was one such admirer who optioned “In the Hands of Dante” in 2008 and later began working with Schnabel on the initial project.

Unfortunately, while in Depp’s hands the project remained speculative for years and Tosches, who passed away at 70 in 2019, wouldn’t survive to see his novel adapted to screen. With Oscar Isaac replacing Johnny Depp in the lead [playing Dante], the film is now expected to be released in late 2024. Joining the cast are several Italian actors including Lorenzo Zurzolo, Sabrina Impacciatore, Franco Nero, Fortunato Cerlino, Claudio Santamaria, Guido Caprino, Paolo Bonacelli, Emiliano Brioschi and Jacopo Rampini.

The strong presence of Italian actors suggests that Schnabel wanted a cast that could sell the look and sound of 14th century Italy and Sicily, as the film interweaves two separate storylines – one in the past and one in 21st century America.

In the present, a Priest discovers the original handwritten manuscript, by Dante himself, of The Divine Comedy deep in the Vatican Library. The plot then follows the manuscript’s journey from the Priest to a Mob Boss in New York City, where it is taken by Nick Tosches to verify its authenticity.

Tosches wrote himself into the novel as somewhat of a scholar/expert on Dante, akin to Tom Hanks’ role as the famed Professor Robert Langdon in Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code”. The New York storyline and American cast is comprised of some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Gerard Butler, Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot, Al Pacino and John Malkovich. The Director even asked iconic filmmaker Martin Scorsese to play role in the film as a sage and mentor figure that Dante consulted with while writing his Divine Comedy.

The film wasn’t finished in time for this year’s Venice Film Festival, although fans of Tosches’ novel were hoping it would be part of the line-up, as filming began back in October 2023 – with Venice being one of the principle locations. Other Italian locations included Sicily, Verona, Rome and Viterbo before shooting American scenes in New York City.

Italy’s Melmo Films and Julian Schnabel’s son, Olmo, for Twin Productions produced the film alongside Executive Producer Martin Scorsese. Director Julian Schnabel began his career with the biographical drama film Basquiat in 1996, starring Jeffrey Wright as the acclaimed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. He then directed Javier Bardem’s Oscar winning performance in Before Night Falls before earning an Oscar Nomination for himself directing “The Diving Bell And The Butterfly”.

In the Hand of Dante poster: copyright of Dreamcrew Entertainment; photo of “In the Hand of Dante” set, courtesy of justjared.com 

Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix