Jun 24
Luca Guadagnino Vows Daniel Craig-Starring 'Queer' Will Feature Plenty of 'Scandalous' Sex Scenes
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 3 MIN.
Source: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
"Clocking in at 3 hours, 'Queer' is an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' 1953 novel of the same name, a story so filled with homosexuality that it was deemed too controversial at the time to be released and went unpublished for close to 30 years, until 1985," World of Reel thumbnailed.
In the film, a man named Lee amorously pursues a fellow American in Mexico, Allerton (played by "Love Simon" alum Drew Starkey), while simultaneously searching for a hallucinogenic substance.
Burroughs' works are singular in style and perspective, often focusing on drug use and LGBTQ+ characters. His most famous novel, "Naked Lunch," was long deemed to be unfilmable, but David Cronenberg – a master of the body horror genre – managed the transition with the 1991 Peter Weller-starring feature.
Guadagnino explained to his film festival audience that he has three other projects in various stages of completion in addition to "Queer," Cinecittà noted.
Guadagnino's upcoming thriller "After the Hunt" will begin lensing next month, World of Reel noted. The movie stars Julia Roberts, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri, and is an homage "to Woody Allen's Bergman cinema," the director told his film festival audience.
"Also in the pipeline are 'Camere Separate' ('Separate Rooms'), based on the novel by Pier Vittorio Tondelli," Cinecittà relayed, "and a new documentary on Bernardo Bertolucci" that Guadagnino said "will be called 'Joie de vivre' ('Joy of Life') and will talk about my relationship with him, with Bernardo," the director continued.
"Queer" will premiere this summer at the Venice Film Festival.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
