Working from his own screenplay, the rapper plans to direct and star in a portrait of the New York artist who has long influenced his work.
Kid Cudi is taking his admiration for Jean-Michel Basquiat into a new film, JEAN, with production planned for 2027. He announced the project on Instagram on October 21, revealing that he has written the screenplay and plans to direct and play the late artist rather than wait for another filmmaker to bring the role to him.
As XXL reports, Cudi said people had approached him for years about portraying Basquiat, but those conversations had never developed into a film. He ultimately decided to write the screenplay himself, turning a long-discussed possibility into a project he intends to lead on both sides of the camera.
Research has been central to his preparation. Cudi described reading books and speaking with people who knew Basquiat, while acknowledging the challenge of writing about a real person. He framed the film around his affection for the artist, 1980s New York and the creative world that shaped Basquiat’s work.
The announcement also included early wardrobe-test photographs, offering a first indication of how Cudi might appear in the role. He cautioned that the wig was a rough version rather than the finished look, making the images a development preview, not a glimpse of scenes already filmed.
Basquiat emerged from New York’s downtown art scene, first gaining attention through the SAMO graffiti name before becoming internationally known for his paintings. His work addressed race, class and power, and his rapid rise made him a defining figure of the 1980s before his death in 1988 at age 27.
For Cudi, JEAN extends a screen career that includes X, Entourage and the Netflix animated special Entergalactic, which he created, co-wrote and starred in. He has also been developing the horror thriller Wrong Number with Barbie Ferreira, while the newly announced Basquiat project gives his filmmaking another distinct direction.
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