Billy Zane transforms into Marlon Brando in dazzling Waltzing with Brando trailer

Billy Zane is best known for his supporting roles in 90s classics like Tombstone (1993) and Titanic (1997). He's proven to be effective in multiple genres, as his Zoolander (2001) cameo can attest, but nobody, and we mean nobody, was prepared for his turn as Marlon Brando in an upcoming biopic.

Marlon Brando is one of the most iconic and recognizable actors of all time. His mannerisms and specific choices have been emulated by generations of stars, especially when looking at his iconic performance in The Godfather (1972). It would be a tall order for anyone to try and recapture this magic onscreen, and yet, Billy Zane appears to have done so.

Zane will play Marlon Brando in the 1970s

The actor completely disappears into the role of Brando in the trailer for Waltzing with Marlon. The trailer opens with a recreation of the opening scene from The Godfather, and you'd be forgiving for thinking the filmmakers simply used footage from the original. Zane is that convincing, in terms of both his appearance and his vocal inflection.

Waltzing with Marlon is a film that details Brando's life between 1969 and 1974. The actor was at all time low in terms of his stardom, and attempting to escape the bright lights of Hollywood by buying an island in Tahiti. Obviously, things took a different direction, and Brando would up staging a historic comeback that led to him winning an Oscar for The Godfather.

The film allows Zane to recreate Godfather scenes

Zane has the difficult task of playing Brando onscreen, in some of his most indelible roles, as well as Brando offscreen, when he's struggling to establish a home on his uninhabited island. There's a lot of eccentricity and iconography to channel here, but the general consensus among social media users and YouTube commenters is that Zane has somehow managed to pull it off.

A release date for Waltzing with Marlon has yet to be released, but the positive word of mouth from the trailer suggests that it will be getting plenty of attention in 2025. Are you curious to see Zane's performance in its entirety?