Kid Cudi to Write, Direct and Star as Basquiat in Biopic 'JEAN'

Kid Cudi will write, direct and star in a Jean-Michel Basquiat biopic titled JEAN, the rapper announced on Instagram. The script's first page carries the date August 25, 2026, and filming is set to begin in 2027.

Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, shared the announcement with an image of that draft page. He said people have encouraged him to play Basquiat for years, but "no project actually came to be" — so he decided to write it himself.

Alongside the script page, Cudi posted a mock-up poster. It shows a black and white photograph of himself as Basquiat: a suit and tie, a cigarette, and a wig mimicking Basquiat's trademark free-form dreadlocks. "This isnt the final just a rough," Cudi wrote. "trust me we gon get it perfect."

A slideshow of further black and white images shows Cudi lounging in an airy studio space and walking past a wall of graffiti. He cuts a convincing figure as the oft-mythologized New York artist.

What does Cudi promise the film will be?

Cudi described the project in personal terms. The film, he wrote, "will be a love letter to Jean, the 80s and NY city. Jean has inspired me all through out my career, and it will be the biggest honor to tell his story in a way we haven't seen before."

In an Instagram story, he explained why the moment felt right. "I'm not getting any younger, I'm getting a bit older, and I felt like if I was going to do it, I better do it now," Cudi said. "So I'm really f—ing excited, I think you'll really f—ing love it. Super uplifting, super positive, inspiring. Get ready baby."

Who else is making Basquiat films?

JEAN enters a crowded field. Last fall, a separate Basquiat biopic, Samo Lives — named after the artist's graffiti tag, Samo© — began filming in the East Village, including Tompkins Square Park. Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays Basquiat, with Julius Onah directing. Updates on that project have been scarce, and it has no release date.

A film version of Anthony McCarten's play The Collaboration, about the relationship between Basquiat and Andy Warhol, is also reportedly in the works. No release date has been set for that project either.

Cudi's film must also stand apart from two earlier screen treatments of the artist's life. Julian Schnabel wrote and directed the 1996 biopic Basquiat, starring Jeffrey Wright in the title role. And Downtown 81, shot in 1981 but not released until 2000, starred Basquiat himself as a quasi-fictional artist named Jean.

Where does this fit in Cudi's film career?

JEAN will be Cudi's third film as a director. He is set to direct, write and star in Doe, about an unhoused man in Hollywood, and he is starring in and directing Wrong Number, a horror film reported by Deadline in September 2026.

With a script dated August 2026 and cameras planned for 2027, JEAN gives Cudi the chance to move from musician-turned-actor to full auteured control of a story he says has driven his whole career — and to stake his claim on Basquiat's legacy before his competitors reach theaters.