Ian McKellen in The Christophers. Photo: Claudette Barius It was over drinks that director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Ed Solomon hatched the idea for the new movie The Christophers and, in their minds, immediately cast it. Soderbergh, a painter himself, imagined Ian McKellen in the role of Julian Sklar, an iconic British artist turned canceled curmudgeon who hires an assistant to catalogue his belongings for appraisal while he films Cameo-style videos for cash.