Stone will also lead Lanthimos’ upcoming spin on Frankenstein, “Poor Things,” alongside Mark Ruffalo, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe.
Emma Stone has proven to be director Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Favourite” star.
The Oscar winner teams up again with “The Favourite” auteur Lanthimos for the black-and-white short film “Bleat.” The film is the second work to be commissioned as part of the Greek National Opera and nonprofit NEON program “The Artist on the Composer.” French actor Damien Bonnard also stars.
“Bleat” will have its world premiere May 6, accompanied by live music ensembles May 6–8 in Stavros Niarchos Hall at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Kallithea, Greece. Thodoros Mihopoulos serves as cinematographer of the eerie short; its plot is currently under wraps.
“Bleat” was filmed on the Greek island of Tinos in February 2020 featuring instrumental pieces by J.S. Bach / Knut Nystedt and Toshio Hosokawa, which will be performed live at the premiere events by soloists Angelina Tkatcheva (cimbalom) and Wu Wei (sheng), the “Maria Callas” quartet, and the Chorus of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.
Star Stone landed an Oscar nomination for Lanthimos’ “The Favourite,” which also garnered Best Picture and Best Director nominations for the director.
The collaborative filmmaking duo are slated to also reunite for a female reimagining of Frankenstein in “Poor Things,” also starring Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Ramy Youssef, and Jerrod Carmichael. Stone will play Bella Baxter, “a volatile, oversexed, emancipated woman, and a female Frankenstein,” per an official synopsis, who is resurrected with the brain of her unborn child after drowning herself to escape her abusive husband.
“Poor Things” is written by “The Favourite” co-screenwriter Tony McNamara, who also is the showrunner for Hulu’s “The Great.” The film will be an adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s novel of the same name.
Stone is also leading Disney sequel “Cruella 2” and is slated to appear in Benny Safdie’s TV miniseries “The Curse,” a comedy about an alleged curse that threatens the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring on their problematic home-renovation show.
“Bleat” is Lanthimos’ fourth short film, following 2019’s “Nimic,” about a professional cellist whose encounter with a stranger has surreal repercussions. The short starred Matt Dillon, Daphne Patakia, and Susan Elle, and was released after “The Favourite.” “Bleat” marks Lanthimos’ first return to cinema after a three-year hiatus.
