The director behind last year's I Am Heath Ledger will next turn his camera to the life of Fast and Furious franchise star Paul Walker.
Adrian Buitenhuis has signed on to direct I Am Paul Walker for Paramount Network and Network Entertainment, Deadlineannounced Tuesday. The project will reunite Buitenhuis with I Am Heath Ledger producer/co-director Derik Murray and will include taped discussions with "many" of Walker's co-stars and friends, though exact details have not been released.
In addition to taking a "comprehensive" look at Walker’s filmography, Buitenhuis' film will also give fans a glimpse at the actor's ocean life activism and his involvement with Haiti's post-earthquake recovery efforts. A release date is expected to be locked down within a few months.
For I Am Heath Ledger, which premiered on Spike (now known as Paramount Network) last May, Buitenhuis and Murray wisely avoided the easily-found-on-Wikipedia facts of the Oscar-winning actor's life and career. Instead, they gave fans a condensed look at Ledger's artistry through the lens of his family and collaborators.
"Once we'd started to dig into his story, and were talking with people who were close to him, we began to see this pattern of him directing music videos, optioning a script, and wanting to be a [feature film] director," Murray told i-D of his and Buitenhuis' approach. "Once we saw that, we jumped in to explore that further. We got this real understanding of his passion for photography and film—that he had a filmmaker's heart—it became a story that we just had to make."
Before we get I Am Paul Walker, Buitenhuis will premiere his latest documentary I Am MLK Jr. via Paramount Network on April 2. Previous I Am entries include feature-length documentaries on Sam Kinison, Bruce Lee, John F. Kennedy Jr., and more.
