Eleanor Rigby will be missing for a far shorter time period than first expected.
Ned Benson‘s directorial debut, “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” premiered last year at Toronto as two different films, a pair of romantic dramas told from the perspectives of characters played by James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain. The companion pieces, which played back-to-back under “Him” and “Her” subtitles, won great acclaim at the festival, but it was unclear how they’d be viable in commercial theaters.
Also read: Toronto: James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain’s ‘Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby’ Heading to Weinstein Co.
The Weinstein Company bought the project for $3 million, anyway, and ahead of the film’s screening at the Cannes Film Festival, we have our answer.
Benson went back and re-cut his project, turning the three-hour drama into a more traditional two-hour narrative by combining scenes from both films. That version, which will play at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, will hit theaters on September 26.
Also read: ‘The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby’ Sells Ahead of Toronto (Exclusive)
For those still interested in seeing both films, TWC will release them together in art house theaters later on, though that date has not yet been locked in. The studio told TheWrap that it has yet to decide whether to include entry to both films for the price of one ticket, or sell tickets to “Him” and “Her” separately.