Sony Pictures Classics will release the English-language feature-length debut from director Pedro Almodóvar. “The Room Next Door” stars Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and John Turturro.
The film, according to Almodóvar follows “a very imperfect mother and her resentful daughter, who live separate lives because of a profound misunderstanding.” Swinton plays the mother, a war correspondent, while Moore plays Martha, a friend of the mother who is an auto fiction novelist. The feature starts production in New York and Madrid in March.
“The film talks about the unlimited cruelty of wars, the two different ways these two writers have of approaching and writing about reality, also about death, and how friendship and sexual pleasure can be the best allies to deal with horror,” said Almodóvar in a statement. “It also talks about the pleasure of waking up to birds bringing a new day at a house built on a natural reserve in New England, where the two friends live an extraordinary and awkwardly sweet situation.”
Sony Pictures Classics have acquired all rights in North America, the Middle East, India, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
The move continues Sony Pictures Classics relationship with Almodóvar. They most recently released his Oscar-nominated feature “Parallel Mothers” in 2021, as well as his Ethan Hawke/Pedro Pascal-starring short film “Strange Way of Life” and “The Human Voice,” also starring Swinton.
Sony Pictures Classics also recently acquired the Irish musical comedy “Kneecap” out of Sundance. The film follows “self-proclaimed ‘low-life scum’ Liam Óg and Naoise, along with school teacher JJ, who become a political symbol and the defiant voice of Ireland’s restless youth. As they struggle to make their mark on the world, and family and relationship pressures threaten to pull the plug on their dreams, the trio weave a narrative that transcends music.”
