Spencer, director Pablo Larraín’s highly-anticipated Princess Diana biopic, now has a release date. In a tweet today, distributor NEON announced that the film, which stars Kristin Stewart as the late Princess of Wales, will open in theaters on November 5.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, the film follows Diana over the weekend in December of 1991 when she resolved to separate from her husband, Prince Charles. The title is Diana’s family name, representing her struggle over her own identity during that tumultuous period of her life. Poldark‘s Jack Farthing costars as Charles, with Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, and Sean Harris also appearing.
Larraín is no stranger to intimate biopics following women thrust into impossible situations, having helmed 2016’s Jackie. Between his track record and the renewed interest in the royal family generally and Charles and Diana’s relationship specifically, led in part by Emma Corrin‘s Golden Globe-winning turn as Diana in Season 4 of Netflix‘s The Crown, it’s no wonder Spencer is already generating Oscar buzz. The film is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, hoping to follow in the footsteps of previous films like The Shape of Water and Nomadland in turning festival success into Best Picture wins.
Stewart herself has a history of playing real-world figures, including Joan Jett in 2010’s The Runaways, and most recently Jean Seberg in 2019’s Seberg. She garnered headlines for her striking likeness of Diana in the first production images of the film, though Stewart suggests that it was Diana’s interior life that drew her to the role. “Spencer is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life,” Stewart remarked in January. “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.”
Spencer will be released exclusively in theaters on November 5. Check out Neon’s tweet below:
Kristen Stewart. Pablo Larraín. SPENCER.
Exclusively in theaters November 5th. @Topic_Studios— NEON (@neonrated) August 17, 2021
Here’s the official synopsis for Spencer:
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.
via Collider