One minute you’re staring at Billy Zane in a linen shirt, hair a little too perfectly sun-bleached, muttering about the tides. The next, you’re knee-deep in Marlon Brando’s private obsession — building an “ecologically perfect” retreat on an untouched Tahitian atoll. Waltzing with Brando isn’t just a title; it’s a dare. The newly released official trailer (via Iconic Releasing) makes last year’s promo look like a rough rehearsal — now the rhythm’s there, the madness is sharper, and the humor actually lands.
Adapted from architect Bernard Judge’s memoir, the film drops us into the early ’70s, before Tahiti became a postcard cliché. No mass tourism. No cruise ships. No air-conditioned everything. Just a stubborn movie star, a dream of environmental utopia, and the kind of logistical headaches that could drive a sane person to throw blueprints into the sea. Zane leans into Brando’s contradictions — magnetic, frustrating, occasionally absurd — while the island itself plays co-lead, framed in painterly shots that make you smell the salt air.
Bill Fishman directs, and you can feel his music-video instincts bleeding through: tight comedic beats, sudden visual detours, a slight wink at the audience. Jon Heder shows up with that off-center comic timing he’s been fine-tuning since Napoleon Dynamite, while Richard Dreyfuss brings a veteran’s weariness to the chaos. Tia Carrere? Effortlessly cool, like she walked in from a different, better-dressed movie and decided to stay.
And then there’s the subtext — Brando’s fixation on building without ruining what he loves. The book wrestles with it, and the trailer hints at it between the gags. Environmental purity is beautiful in theory, messy in practice. Gorgeous. Grating. Gorgeous again.
The film hits select US theaters September 19, 2025, and if the trailer’s anything to go by, it’ll be the kind of comedy-biopic that knows its subject is both genius and impossible to live with. Which, in Brando’s case, is probably the point.
What Stands Out from the New ‘Waltzing with Brando’ Trailer
Zane’s Brando Is All-In
There’s no half-measure here — he’s doing the voice, the mannerisms, the mercurial shifts between charm and petulance.
The Island Is a Character
Tetiaroa isn’t just backdrop; it’s the pulse of the story, captured with a romantic but slightly chaotic lens.
Comedy with Teeth
Yes, it’s funny — but the humor cuts into ego, hubris, and the absurdities of “green” dreams.
The Supporting Cast Is Not Wasted
Dreyfuss, Heder, Carrere — all given moments that hint at more than just comic relief.
Better Than the First Trailer
Last year’s teaser felt like a warm-up. This one has timing, texture, and a clearer sense of what kind of film this actually is.
