Kid Cudi Will Write, Direct and Star as Jean-Michel Basquiat in ‘Jean’

Kid Cudi spent years hearing that he should play Jean-Michel Basquiat. On Wednesday (Oct. 21) he stopped waiting for somebody else to make the movie. The rapper announced on Instagram that he is writing, directing and starring in JEAN, a Basquiat biopic set to start filming in 2027, Billboard reports. The post came with first-look photos of him in the painter’s signature tousled hair, and Complex calls the resemblance uncanny.

The look is still a work in progress. Cudi says he did a wardrobe test and had a wig made, with a caveat: “this isnt the final just a rough, trust me we gon get it perfect.” The screenwriting, he adds, was the harder part:

To write a film about someone who existed was a challenge, but it was a welcomed one. A lot of research, books, talks with people that knew him. This film will be a love letter to Jean, the 80s and NY city.

Kid Cudi, Billboard

Basquiat, who died of a drug overdose in 1988 at 27, is having a busy screen moment. Jeffrey Wright played him in 1996’s Basquiat, which entered the Criterion Collection last year, per AV Club, and Complex says Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays him in the upcoming Samo Lives while a documentary, King Pleasure, is also in the works. Our Basquiat report has the SAMO side of the story, including Al Diaz’s London show.

Read moreJames Gunn and Peter Safran Are Stepping Down From DC Studios, and Jeremy Latcham Takes Over

Cudi’s own art practice makes the casting less of a leap. Hyperallergic notes he debuted his paintings as Scotty Ramon at Art Cologne in 2025 and had a first solo show, Echoes of the Past, in Paris this January. Fans have long compared him with Basquiat, and AV Club says an unofficial viral video for his song “Ghost!” uses clips from Basquiat’s feature Downtown 81. His year has also included the Rebel Ragers tour.

Neither Billboard’s nor Complex’s report names a studio, a co-star or a release date. What Cudi did offer was a dedication: “This ones for all those dreamers out there.”

Added to the High Grailed archive on November 10, 2026.