The film is based on the book of the same name by Charles Willeford and stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, and Donald Sutherland.

[3] In February 2018, Elizabeth Debicki and Christopher Walken were cast in the film adaptation of Charles Willeford's book The Burnt Orange Heresy, to play Berenice Hollis and artist Jerome Debney, respectively.

[4] In April 2018, Claes Bang joined the film to play the lead role of James Figueras, a fiercely ambitious art critic and thief.

[8] A week later, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights in all media excluding airlines to the film for North and Latin America, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland and Thailand.

The website's critics consensus reads, "The Burnt Orange Heresy has a certain stylish charm, even if -- much like the art world it depicts -- it'll strike some viewers as pretentious.