The Yorgos Lanthimos helmed feature will open the 2018 New York Film Festival.
The film starring Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, and Olivia Colman marks Lanthimos’ return to the festival after his 2015 screening of Lobster.
The historical drama will kick off the 56th edition of NYFF, which will be held at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on Friday, September 28.
“The Favourite is a lot of things at once, each of them perfectly meshed: a historical epic; a visual feast; a wild, wild ride; a formidable display of the art of acting from Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, and Olivia Colman, abetted by a brilliant cast; a tour de force from Yorgos Lanthimos. festival director Kent Jones said. “We’re very excited to have it as our opening night film.”
Weisz stars as Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough and Stone as servant Abigail Hill, in the factually inspired film. The two clash in the hopes of winning the affections of Queen Anne played by Colman. A press release described the movie as a “reimagining of the costume epic, in which the visual pageantry of court life in 18th-century England becomes not just a lushly appointed backdrop but an ironically heightened counterpoint to the primal conflict unreeling behind closed doors.”
As for being chosen for the opening night, Lanthimos said in a press statement, “It’s a great privilege to be showing The Favourite for the opening night of the New York Film Festival, which is a very special place for the film. I had a wonderful experience screening The Lobster at this distinct festival and I’m looking forward to sharing The Favourite with audiences in New York. I was envisioning this film for many years and eventually had a lot of fun making it.”
