Sony Pictures Classics is reuniting with Pedro Almodovar and will release the cinematic legend’s first English-language feature film, “The Room Next Door.”
The indie studio announced it has acquired all rights in North America, the Middle East, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to the film, which is set to star Oscar winners Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, along with John Turturro.The film will begin shooting this March in New York and Madrid. Almodovar has been thinking of directing an English-language feature for some time — at one point, he considered making 2016’s “Julieta” with Meryl Streep.
The news about the distribution deal is wholly expected (it would be more shocking if Almodovar found a different partner). That’s because Sony Pictures Classics has released nearly all of Almodovar’s movies. Most recently, it oversaw the distribution of “Parallel Mothers,” which earned an Oscar nomination for Penélope Cruz. It also released his short films “Strange Way of Life” and “The Human Voice.” The studio and Almodovar collaborated on the likes of “Pain and Glory,” “All about My Mother” and “Volver.”
“The Room Next Door” is produced by Almodóvar’s company, El Deseo. The director says the film is “about a very imperfect mother and her resentful daughter, who live separate lives because of a profound misunderstanding.”
Almodovar adds that “the film talks about the unlimited cruelty of wars” as well as how two writers tackle “reality…death, and how friendship and sexual pleasure can be the best allies to deal with horror. It also talks about the pleasure of waking up to birds bringing a new day at a house built on a natural reserve in New England.”
It sounds like something that defies easy explanation, which is the case with many of Almodovar’s twisty, engrossing and frequently satisfying works.
Both Swinton and Moore have starred in several other films released by Sony Pictures Classics. Swinton appeared in the company’s movies “Orlando,” “only Lovers Left Alive” and “Young Adam,” while Moore starred in “Still Alice,” which earned her an Oscar.
