Julius Onah Signs With Blue Marble Management as Post-Production Wraps on Basquiat Biopic 'Samo Lives'
Director Julius Onah has signed with Theresa Kang's Blue Marble Management for representation across film, television, and all media, according to Deadline. The Nigerian American filmmaker joins a roster that includes Oscar winners Alfonso Cuarón, Chris Terrio, and Simon Beaufoy, along with Golden Globe nominee Gillian Flynn.
Onah is currently in post-production on Samo Lives, a biopic of painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, for Neon. The film is produced and financed by Fifth Season and Macro Film Studios, with Neon also producing. Macro announced that principal photography had wrapped in late October 2025 after a shoot across New York City and New Jersey. Kelvin Harrison Jr. stars as Basquiat, with a cast that also includes Antony Starr, Jeffrey Wright, Chase Sui Wonders, Danny Ramirez, and Dane DeHaan.
The Basquiat project returns Onah to Neon, the distributor that acquired his 2019 film Luce. That thriller, starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, and earned Onah an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Director. His debut feature, The Girl In Trouble, was made during his graduate studies at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and executive produced by Spike Lee.
Onah's profile expanded substantially with Captain America: Brave New World, the fourth instalment in Marvel's Captain America franchise, starring Anthony Mackie. The film grossed $415 million worldwide — a figure that, while modest by Marvel's own ceiling, placed Onah squarely in the blockbuster conversation. He also directed The Cloverfield Paradox, the science-fiction thriller released by Netflix, Paramount, and Bad Robot.
What stands out is the range. Onah has moved from a Sundance indie to a Marvel tentpole to a Basquiat biopic without repeating himself. Blue Marble, a management company built around prestige talent, gives him a home that fits that trajectory.
Onah continues to be represented by WME and by Danny Passman of Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc. The Blue Marble signing adds management representation alongside those existing agency and legal relationships.
