Last week, a report surfaced that actor/directorJohn Turturro’s new filmGoing Placesis actually aBig Lebowski spinoff, with the actor returning as Jesus Quintana. The film was already said to have started shooting in New York City, which is essentially a remake of 1974 French filmLes Valseusescentering on his Jesus character, withBobby Cannavale,Susan SarandonandAudrey Tautoualso set to star. Today we have the first photo from the set withJohn Turturroas Jesus, thanks to one of the actor/director’s co-stars.
Susan Sarandonshared this photo onInstagram, with the brief caption, “The Man. John Tuturro on location. Love you.” The actress also tagged the location as “The Sands at Lido Beach” in Lido Beach, New York, which is situated between Queens and Long Island.John Turturrois also directing this spinoff from his own script, which follows two thieves,John Turturro’s Jesus Quintana andBobby Cannavale’s unnamed character, who “compete to give a woman (Audrey Tautou) her first orgasm.“Susan Sarandonportrays a criminal who ends up in their company after a long stint in prison.
The project doesn’t have a distributor in place quite yet, butJohn Turturrorecently teased that originalBig LebowskidirectorsJoel CoenandEthan Coenare supporting this spinoff, whileJeff Bridgesrecently gave his blessing for the project as well.Turturrohimself had actually created thisJesus Quintanacharacter years prior to the movie for a stage play he was working on. The actor-director teased a few months ago that they’re involved in a “complicated legal situation.” with this project, but it seems that has all been settled, now that filming has begun.
InThe Big Lebowski, Jesus Quintana was a bowling rival ofThe Dude(Jeff Bridges), Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and Donny Kerabatsos (Steve Buscemi). Jesus' team meets The Dude’s team in their bowling league semi-finals, where he keeps antagonizing The Dude, Walter and Donny. At one point in the movie, Walter claims that Jesus is a “pederast,” having served six months in Chino for exposing himself to an 8-year-old.
Even before the developments that surfaced earlier this year,Turturroteased thisspin-off moviea couple of years ago.The Big Lebowskididn’t exactly break any box office records when it hit theaters in 1998, earning just $17.4 million. It did, however, go on to become a cult classic, even spawning a yearly event in Louisville, Kentucky, with the 15th annual Lebowski festival taking place earlier this year. While we wait for more updates, take a look at the first photo fromThe Big LebowskispinoffGoing Places, featuringJohn Turturro’s triumphant return as Jesus Quintana.
