It looks like four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening may be a name that pops up during awards chatter yet again. The U.S. rights to “20th Century Women,” a new comedy starring Bening, have been acquired by A24 with plans for an awards-eligible release date in the fourth quarter of the year, reports Variety.
Bening, whose Oscar nominations include her roles in “The Kids Are All Right” and “American Beauty,” is joined by a stellar cast: Elle Fanning (“Neon Demon”), Greta Gerwig (“Frances Ha”), Billy Crudup (“Spotlight”), and Lucas Jade Zumann (“Chicago Fire”).
Variety writes that the film, set in the summer of 1979 in Santa Barbara, “centers on a single mother who tries to teach her teenage son about love and freedom, along with two other women.”
“Mike Mills has written and directed a deeply moving, transcendent vision about the people we love and our place in the world,” commented A24.“With truly unforgettable performances and a meticulous sense of time and place, ’20th Century Women’ is an iconic mother-son story that we know will resonate strongly with wide audiences.”
Bening has a number of promising features coming up, including a role in an upcoming big-screen adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” with Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”) and Elisabeth Moss (“Mad Men,” “Top of the Lake”). She just started shooting “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” in, you guessed it, Liverpool. According to a press release, the film, based on British actor Peter Turner’s memoir, “follows the playful, but passionate relationship between Turner (Jamie Bell, “Billy Elliot”) and the eccentric Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Bening). What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover quickly grows into a deeper relationship with Turner being the one person she allows herself to turn to for comfort and strength. Their passion and lust for life is tested to the limits by events beyond their control.” “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” also features a strong supporting cast, including Vanessa Redgrave (“Fox Catcher,” “Atonement”) and Julie Walters (“Brooklyn,” “Educating Rita”).
