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It’s outlaw against “Outlaw.”
Christopher Walken, star of the new streaming series “The Outlaws,” did what many art fans consider sacrilegious act of vandalism: He painted over an original Banksy!
A spokesperson for the BBC iPlayer series confirmed the 78-year-old film icon’s act of destruction in a statement.
“We can confirm that the artwork at the end of The Outlaws was an original Banksy, and that Christopher Walken painted over that artwork during the filming of this scene, ultimately destroying it,” they told BBC.
“The Outlaws,” also starring comedian and show director Steven Merchant, was filmed in Banksy’s hometown of Bristol, where the clandestine graffiti artist began spray-painting satirical images of a Teddy bear protester, a masked gorilla and philandering men.
For the show, set designers brought in one of Banksy’s other iconic works — one of his trademark, anthropomorphized rat — with permission from the artist himself to have it destroyed.
During the season finale, the storyline sees that Walken’s character Frank is made to absentmindedly paint over the artwork as he and several criminals of minor offenses in the show are charged with painting over graffiti as part of their enforced community service.
It was a one-take scene as Walken was forced to literally paint over the one-of-a-kind piece.
Banksy’s work has drawn enormous sums in the past — up to $25 million at Sotheby’s London earlier this year, his largest price tag to date. Last year, his “Radar Rat” one of several works in his collection of featuring the rodent, also sold at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong for over $700,000.
Reps for Walken, a Queens native and Oscar winner, have not responded to The Post’s request for comment about the on-camera stunt.
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