Kid Cudi To Play Jean-Michel Basquiat In His Own Film “Jean”

Kid Cudi announced “Jean,” a film he wrote about Jean-Michel Basquiat and plans to direct and star in. He said he planned to start filming in 2027.

The rapper shared the news on October 21, along with an early wardrobe test. He said people had asked him for years about playing the New York artist, but none of those projects had come together. This year, he wrote one himself.

Cudi said he read books and spoke with people who knew Basquiat to prepare the script. He also cautioned that the wig in his test was a rough version, not the final look.

Cudi’s plan would add to a screen history that includes Julian Schnabel’s 1996 feature “Basquiat,” with Jeffrey Wright in the lead and David Bowie among its cast. The estate described that film as a mix of fact and fiction about Basquiat’s rise in New York’s art world.

Basquiat’s screen history also includes a role of his own. He appeared as himself in “Downtown 81,” which followed the young artist through Lower Manhattan and its art and music scene. Edo Bertoglio directed the film from a script by Glenn O’Brien.

It was filmed in 1981 but did not reach release until 2000, according to the artist’s estate.

The new role brings a real-life subject to Cudi’s run behind the camera. He unveiled his first film as a director, “Doe,” earlier this year. That project was announced as a drama about addiction and survival, with a cast that included Mark Webber, Leah McNamara, Brandon Scott and Brandon Perea.

He followed that announcement with “Wrong Number,” a horror film from his own script that cast him opposite Barbie Ferreira. Its story follows a self-help author whose new romance leads to stalking and a string of murders. “Jean” gives him a different task: writing for the screen about a person whose life has already been told on film.

Cudi’s “Jean” is also separate from the Basquiat documentary Netflix announced for 2026. Directed by Quinn Whitney Wilson and Viridiana Lieberman, that project drew on rare images, art and memories from friends and family. His sisters helped tell that story, which looked at his life through the eyes of those close to him.

Cudi described the role as an honor, citing the influence Basquiat had on his own work throughout his career. For his own film, Cudi made his aim clear: “This film will be a love letter to Jean, the 80s and NY city.”