Luca Guadagnino officially has two Oscar contenders in the mix — both of which are written by Justin Kuritzkes.
Auteur Guadagnino reunited with his “Challengers” screenwriter Kuritzkes for “Queer,” which Guadagnino commissioned Kuritzkes to adapt from William S. Burroughs’ novella. Check out the trailer for “Queer” below.
Best Actor frontrunner Daniel Craig leads the film as William Lee, a gay expatriate living in Mexico City in the 1940s. Lee becomes fascinated by Eugene Allerton (“Outer Banks” star Drew Starkey), who is a young discharged Navy veteran. The duo embark on a romance, which at times is one-sided; later, they travel to South America for an ayahuasca experience to reach enlightenment.
“Queer” also stars Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, and Omar Apollo. The A24 film debuted at the Venice Film Festival.
Directing “Queer” was a lifelong pursuit for Guadagnino, who said during the Venice press conference that Burroughs’ novel resonated with him decades ago.
“I was a lonely boy in Palermo, a megalomaniac and dreaming of building worlds through cinema. I read this slim book [‘Queer’] and I fell into the vivid imagination of this writer that I didn’t know at the time, the profound connection that he was achingly describing on the page between these two characters,” Guadagnino said. “The romanticism of the idea of the adventure, and the adventure with someone you want and love, all of these really transformed me and changed me forever, and because I want to be loyal to that young boy, I kept thinking, ‘I have to bring this to the screen.’”
He added, “I wanted, hopefully, to let the audience [into] a sort of idea of self: Who are we when we are alone, and who are we looking for? Who do we want beside us, no matter who you are? Are you a drug addict living in Mexico City, which, by the way, is a Mexico City that exists in the mind of the character? Or you love a man, you love a woman, whoever you love, who are you, and [when] you are alone in that bed, left with the feeling of how you have felt for someone else?”
Guadagnino will next will remake “American Psycho,” which is rumored to star Jacob Elordi. Scott Z. Burns (“Extrapolations,” “The Bourne Ultimatum”) will adapt Bret Easton Ellis’ novel for the screen. Christian Bale led the original 2000 film alongside Guadagnino’s frequent collaborator Chloë Sevigny; Mary Harron co-wrote and directed the classic film.
Read the IndieWire review for “Queer” here.
“Queer” premieres later this year. Check out the trailer below.
