Warchus truly became internationally known after directing "Art", Yasmina Reza's 1996 three character comedy-drama about male friendship. The London production was an immediate hit and spawned a Tony-winning Broadway stand. The busy director barely stopped working, overseeing Alex Jennings' acclaimed turn as "Hamlet" in 1997 and reuniting with playwright Reza for her two-hander "The Unexpected Man".
Like many of his contemporaries (i.e., Nicholas Hytner, Sam Mendes, Deborah Warner), Warchus did not want to be pigeonholed strictly as a theater director. He had branched out to opera and it was perhaps inevitable that he would try filmmaking. Given his success with Sam Shepard's "True West" (which he re-staged to great acclaim on Broadway in 2000), he was able to obtain from the playwright the screen rights to "Simpatico". Released in 1999, the film version, which Warchus co-wrote with David Nicholls, captured the spirit of Shepard's work and provided strong roles for screen veterans Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte and Sharon Stone.