Director Pablo Larraín’s highly-anticipated new film, Spencer, will premiere in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, per Variety. Kristen Stewart stars as Lady Diana in the drama, which focuses on the weekend when she decided to separate from her husband, Prince Charles, amid turbulent media attention around their relationship. Neon and Topic Studios have acquired US distribution rights for the film, expected to be a major awards season player in the fall.
Larraín is coming off of the tepidly-received Apple TV+ drama Lisey’s Story, based on Stephen King’s novel and starring Julianne Moore and Clive Owen. He also directed Jackie, a similarly unique historical drama about the immediate aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Natalie Portman scored an Oscar nomination for her central performance as Jackie Kennedy in the film, which also competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.
The last four winners of the Venice top prize — The Shape of Water, Roma, Joker, and Nomadland — have dominated the Oscar nominations in their respective years. Two of them, The Shape of Water and Nomadland, ended up winning Best Picture.
Stewart said in an earlier statement:
"Spencer is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life. It is a physical assertion of the sum of her parts, which starts with her given name: Spencer. It is a harrowing effort for her to return to herself, as Diana strives to hold onto what the name Spencer means to her."
Charles and Diana’s relationship, and interest in the British royal family, re-entered cultural discourse in 2020, after the premiere of the fourth season of Netflix’s The Crown. Emma Corrin won a Golden Globe for Best Actress - Television Series Drama for her performance as Diana. Elizabeth Debicki will take over from Corrin in season 5.
Spencer is written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) and also stars Jack Farthing as Prince Charles. Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, and Sean Harris round off the cast. There currently is no release date for the movie
Here’s the official synopsis:
"December, 1991: The Prince and Princess of Wales’ marriage has long since grown cold. Though rumours of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at Sandringham Estate. There's eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. This year, things will be a whole lot different."