Oscar® nominee Billie Eilish during the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at the Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Credit/Provider: Valerie Durant / A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
Preview:
- Musician Billie Eilish is to star in a new adaptation of ‘The Bell Jar.’
- Sarah Polley is writing and directing the movie.
- Focus Features is in talks to produce and distribute.
Having already found success in movies thanks to her Oscar-winning music for ‘No Time to Die’ and ‘Barbie’, Billie Eilish is looking to follow other singer-songwriters to the screen and making her cinematic acting debut.
And the project? An adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s classic novel ‘The Bell Jar’, which has ‘Women Talking’ filmmaker Sarah Polley aboard to write and direct.
“Do nothing. Stay and fight. Leave.”
Release Date: Dec 23, 2022
Run Time: 1 hr 44 min
Budget: $20,000,000
Focus Features is in talks to produce and distribute the eventual film in the States, with Deadline confirming an earlier rumor from The InSneider about Eilish’s casting.
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What’s the story of ‘The Bell Jar’?
Oscar® nominee Billie Eilish arrives on the red carpet of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Credit/Provider: Mike Baker / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
The only novel written by American writer and poet Plath, ‘The Bell Jar’ was originally published in 1963.
This semi-autobiographical work charts a young woman’s descent into mental illness and the burden of societal pressures. The book paralleled Plath’s own experiences with depression; the writer tragically died by suicide just a month after the novel’s first UK publication.
Who else has tried to film the novel?
Dakota Fanning stars in Paramount Pictures’ ‘Vicious.’
Larry Peerce directed a 1979 adaptation which starred Marilyn Hassett as main character Esther Greenwood.
Since then, it has mostly been false starts: Julia Stiles was attached to star in a version in 2007 that ultimately didn’t come to pass. And Kirsten Dunst was attached to direct Dakota Fanning in the story a decade later but that also fell by the wayside. Showtime was reportedly developing a small screen take in 2019, but that hasn’t moved forward.
Billie Ellish performs during the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Credit/Provider: Blaine Ohigashi / A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.