Benicio Del Toro to Star in Oliver Stone’s Drama ‘White Lies’

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Benicio Del Toro is set to star in Oliver Stone’s drama “White Lies.”

Stone will direct from his own script in a project that’s departure from his previous work, offering an intimate exploration of family, loss, and love. Nighthawk Capital Limited is financing the film, which will be produced by Fernando Sulichin with Ross Katz. Sulichin’s New Element Media, which has worked with Stone on several projects, raised the financing for the film. Production will begin in New York City in the spring.

In a story covering three generations, Del Toro will portray a child of divorce now repeating his parents’ mistakes in his own marriage and with his troubled son. Feeling trapped, he embarks on a lust-filled journey to free himself, but only becomes more lost. When he meets a woman whose life is the opposite of his own, he begins a journey of rediscovery.

It’s the second time that Del Toro and Stone have worked together. They also collaborated on 2012’s “Savages.”

Del Toro won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for 2000’s “Traffic” and was nominated in the same category for “21 Grams.” He most recently appeared in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Sicario: Day of the Soldado.” He will next star in the Ben Stiller-directed Showtime limited series “Escape at Dannemora,” debuting this fall.

Stone is a three-time Academy Award winner. He won for adapted screenplay for “Midnight Express” in 1978, and twice for best director for “Platoon” in 1986 and “Born on the Fourth of July” in 1989. He has received eight other Academy award nominations — writing nominations for “Platoon,” “Salvador,” and “Nixon;” best picture, directing, and writing for “JFK;” and best picture and writing for “Born on the Fourth of July.” Stone’s most recent film was “Snowden,” a biopic that starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt as whistleblower Edward Snowden that was released in 2016 and grossed $37 million worldwide.