Early-risers at Neon’s CinemaCon presentation this morning got a first look at the trailer and an extended clip for Spencer, the biopic about Princess Diana that stars Kristen Stewart and which will world premiere at the Venice Film Festival next Friday, Sept. 3, then move on to TIFF.
There’s been a lot of attention on the prospect of Stewart’s portrayal of the iconic Lady Di (she was last in Venice playing another real-life woman in 2019’s Seberg). But her accent here is pitch-perfect as the Princess of Wales.
The trailer footage begins with the arrival at Sandringham for the Christmas weekend and takes us through preparations for dinner while Diana is clearly stressed in a bathroom as she’s called to the table. Other images show her strutting down a long hallway dressed to the nines in a silver gown, sitting for a family portrait, paparazzi snapping cameras, and Diana also in moments of letting loose dancing and running across the estate grounds.
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In the extended footage, Diana and Charles discuss the scrutiny that’s placed on them by the media. She says, “If they’re circling, it seems they’re circling just me.” To which Charles retorts, “Perhaps that’s because I always take care to close my curtains.”
In the tense exchange, he adds, “There has to be two of you. There’s two of me… The real one and the one they take pictures of… We are given a task… But you have to be able to make your body do things you hate.” Diana: “That you hate?” Charles: “Yes… For the country, the people. They don’t want us to be people. That’s how it is. I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”
They have their tiff across a distanced snooker table and also nip about the son’s taking up shooting outside, and her wardrobe. The scene culminates in Stewart’s Diana having a measured display of irritation at her husband who is railing on her, but with such a placid tone.
Directed by Jackie’s Pablo Larrain and written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, the film takes place during the Christmas holidays with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, when Diana decides to leave her marriage to Prince Charles.
Poldark star Jack Farthing is playing Charles, with further cast including Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, Sean Harris, Olga Hellsing and Thomas Douglas.
Prior to filming, Stewart admitted to nerves and excitement ahead of taking on the biopic. “The accent is intimidating as all hell because people know that voice, and it’s so, so distinct and particular,” she told InStyle. She continued, “It’s one of the saddest stories to exist ever, and I don’t want to just play Diana — I want to know her implicitly. I haven’t been this excited about playing a part, by the way, in so long.”
Neon and Topic Studios recently set a Nov. 5 domestic release. The film is produced by Juan de Dios Larraín (Jackie) for Fabula Films, Jonas Dornbach and Janine Jackowski (Toni Erdmann) for Komplizen Film and Paul Webster (Atonement) for Shoebox Films.
FilmNation Entertainment handled international sales with all key territories selling out of the 2020 Cannes virtual market. The CAA Media Finance group and Endeavor Content sold to NEON and Topic Studios to distribute in the United States; STXinternational will distribute in the UK, France, Italy and Benelux and DCM has Germany.
NEON also showed off trailers this morning for the Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane which is also going to TIFF, as well as their Sundance acquisition of Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, which is executive produced by Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Flee follows Nawabi, who arrives as an unaccompanied minor in Denmark from Afghanistan. Today, he is a successful academic and is getting married to his longtime boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built. Recounted mostly through animation to Rasmussen — his close friend and high school classmate, he tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan.
The poster for Spencer was also dropped today which you can see below:
