Yorgos Lanthimos’ New Film ‘Poor Things’ Gets Release Date

First images from Yorgos Lanthimos’ upcoming new film Poor Things were released alongside the announcement of its theatre premiere date on Friday.

“Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Coming to cinemas September 8th,” production company Searchlight Pictures said in a Facebook post.

This is one of two movies that the acclaimed Greek filmmaker is currenly working on.

After the release of his critically acclaimed The Favourite in 2018, Lanthimos appeared to be taking a break from feature-length filmmaking.

In the meantime, he directed his muse, actress Emma Stone, in the short-length film Bleat, which was shot on the Greek island of Tinos, commissioned by the Greek National Opera (GNO) and NEON for the program “The Artist on the Composer.”

Lanthimos’ upcoming new film is a science fiction romance

Described as a science fiction romance, Lanthimos’ new Frankenstein-like story “Poor Things” takes place in the Victorian era. Its script, written by Tony McNamara, is based on a novel by Scottish author Alasdair Grey, published in 1992.

This is Lanthimos’ fourth film starring Emma Stone; the Academy Award-winning American actress plays the protagonist, Belle Baxter, who has been brought back to life by an eccentric scientist, played by Willem Dafoe.

The movie also stars Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley and Kathryn Hunter.

“Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation,” the film’s official synopsis reads.

Overwhelming success of The Favourite

Lanthimos’ last movie, The Favourite, met overwhelming success; it was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Directing, and Cinematography.

Olivia Colman won the award for Best Actress, while Weisz and Stone were both nominated for Academy Awards for their roles as well.

Besides Poor Things, Lanthimos is currently also working on a second upcoming feature film, titled And. The latter is already in post-production but no synopsis has been released yet.

After rising to fame with his Greek-language film “Dogtooth” in 2009, Lanthimos became a sought after filmmaker in the US and UK.

His next films, “The Lobster” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” set the tone for a filmmaking movement that film critics have termed the “Greek Weird Wave”.