Searchlight Pictures will now release the new film from “The Favourite” and “The Lobster” filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things,” on Dec. 8, 2023. The film was initially dated for Sept. 8 and will debut at the Venice Film Festival in August.
A specific reason for the release date shuffle was not given, but the move comes as studios (including Disney) are evaluating their release calendars in the wake of the SAG-AFTRA strike. With actors unavailable to promote their films during the strike, some studios have opted to push their films as far as 2024 as Amazon did with Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” starring Zendaya.
“Poor Things” is still scheduled to play in competition at Venice, but will likely do so without its star-studded cast that includes Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Jerrod Carmichael and Ramy Youssef.
Written by Tony McNamara, the movie marks Stone’s first film since 2021’s “Cruella” and Lanthimos’ first feature since his Oscar-winning 2018 film “The Favourite,” which also happened to star Stone.
In “Poor Things,” Stone plays a young woman named Bella Baxter who is brought back to life by the “brilliant and unorthodox scientist” Dr. Goodwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). 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.
