Celebrated Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is competing once more at the Venice Film Festival with his new movie, Bugonia, featuring the return of his regular collaborator, Emma Stone.
Previously, Lanthimos and Stone teamed up for the Venice competition film Poor Things, an adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s novel. The film was highly successful, snagging the prestigious Golden Lion, four Academy Awards, and two Golden Globes.
“Working with Yorgos is something I cherish. I’m drawn to the unique material he chooses, the realms he delves into, and the characters he has kindly allowed me to portray,” Stone remarked about her ongoing partnership with Lanthimos.
“Apart from Will, all of us have collaborated with Yorgos multiple times. This creates a truly comforting and safe space to experiment and express freely. It might sound cliché to say ‘it’s like we’re a family,’ but it genuinely feels that way after so many shared experiences and challenges,” she added.
Stone praised Bugonia for being “a reflection of our current times” and described it as “intriguing, emotional, humorous, twisted, and vibrant.”
The film is an English-language remake of the South Korean movie Save the Green Planet! by filmmaker Jang Joon-hwan. It features the story of two young men with conspiracy theories who abduct a major corporate CEO, believing her to be an alien set on earth’s destruction.
Lanthimos spoke about the film’s setting, explaining, “The dystopian aspects of this film aren’t purely fictional. Much of it mirrors real life, so I wouldn’t categorize it simply as a dystopian film, which usually depicts a futuristic scenario and societal downfall.”
He further noted that Bugonia focuses on current societal issues, stating, “We are at a critical point where humanity must choose wisely, considering the rapid developments in technology, ongoing wars, climate change, and widespread denial of these issues.”
The cast of Bugonia also includes Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone. The screenplay is penned by Will Tracy, known for his work on The Menu and Succession.
Plemons, who previously worked with Lanthimos on Kinds of Kindness, attended the press conference and commented on the director’s unique approach, saying, “His films are fundamentally humanistic, regardless of how they might be categorized. They’re absurd, dark, humorous, but at their core, they explore something deeply human, which is what fascinates me.”
The film’s production team includes Element Pictures’ Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos through Pith, Emma Stone via Fruit Tree, Square Peg’s Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen, and CJ ENM’s Miky Lee and Jerry Kyoungboum Ko.
Focus Features plans to release the film on October 24 in a limited capacity, with a broader release scheduled for October 31.
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