Following his critical and festival success with quirksome romantic drama The Lobster, there has been much pondering about what Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos will do for a follow-up. Turns out he’s headed for historical drama, and has Kate Winslet, Emma Stone and Olivia Colman all at different stages of talks for **The Favourite.
Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara have written the script for this one, which will see Colman crowned as Queen Anne, final monarch of the Stuarts. Ruling between 1702 and 1707 (monarchs generally didn’t get to sit on the throne as long as Liz has). Winslet is circling the role of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, one of her majesty’s closest confidents, while Stone is looking to play Abigail Masham, a poverty-stricken distant relative of Sarah’s, who is suddenly granted a position at court tending to the Queen, resulting in a shifting balance of power between the courtiers.
Lanthimos and his producers have been looking for financing on this one, and such a good cast would surely help that. Winslet will next be seen in Steve Jobs (out November 13) and John Hillcoat’s Triple 9, which has yet to secure a UK date. Stone is on screen now in Woody Allen’s Irrational Man and is shooting La La Land, the new musical from whiplash director Damien Chazelle. Colman has a role in The Lobster (which arrives in the UK on October 16) and is gearing up to appear in Vadim Jean’s Lionel Bart biopic Consider Yourself.