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Filmmaker Chloé Zhao has returned with her fifth feature film, “Hamnet,” a tragedy based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 bestselling novel, but the movie traces its origins to a meeting at a film festival between Zhao and her lead actor for the movie, Paul Mescal.

In a conversation with TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman at TIFF 2025, Zhao said she had been approached by Amblin Partners to adapt “Hamnet,” a bestselling novel and tragedy based on the real-life death of William Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, at the age of 11. While she was considering it, she was convinced by Mescal to take the project when they met at the Telluride Film Festival.

“I met with him by the creek.

Twelve-year-old Jacobi Jupe, who plays the title role in “Hamnet,” broke down in tears mid-interview at the Variety studio at the Toronto Film Festival, describing the devastation of embodying William Shakespeare’s ill-fated son, and calling the experience “life-changing.”

“It was so utterly devastating,” Jupe said, pausing as he grew emotional. “When I ended that shoot, there was one thing that I wanted to do, and it was probably to live on for Hamnet because I don’t think it was fair on him.”

As he struggled to continue, Jupe was consoled by his on-screen parents, Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, who embraced him during the emotional moment. A boy beyond his years, with the support of a fantastic cast and filmmaking crew.

For Buckley, who recently became a mother herself, playing Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife, also carried additional weight.

“I don’t know if anything really fully prepares you completely for motherhood,...

Back in 2017 and fresh out of drama school, David Jonsson auditioned for “Wasteman,” Cal McMau’s debut feature and a violent pressure cooker thriller set in a British prison. The drama bows Sept. 6 at Toronto.

“It was my first film audition,” says the actor. “I read the script and thought it was fucking amazing. So I went in full character. The casting director threw a chair at me. I threw a punch back. I was like, I’ve nailed this. And then I heard nothing.”

Few people heard anything. “As is often the case with film, the whole thing fell through,” says McMau, who continued to work on commercials, music videos and shorts. “So it all went quiet for a little bit.”

In that “little bit” of time, however, Jonsson shot onto the scene as one of the most exciting young actors working today. “Industry” would give him his big break on the small screen,...

Image Source: Amazon

Sarah Michelle Gellar is returning to the world that defined a generation. Known for her iconic role as Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy the Vampire Slayer has become a cultural touchstone. The actress, who famously brought Buffy Summers to life, recently spoke with IGN about the upcoming reboot and assured fans it will be more than just a nostalgic retread.

Sarah Michelle Gellar Buffy Reboot: A New Slayer Steps In

The reboot introduces a new chosen one, played by Star Wars: Skeleton Crew star Ryan Kiera Armstrong. She will be joined by a fresh ensemble of classmates and allies, forming this version of the Scooby Gang.

Tunisia’s 2026 Oscars submission for Best International Feature is already generating major buzz. Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, The Voice of Hind Rajab premiered at the Venice Film Festival, earning a 22-minute standing ovation — a festival record — and quickly emerging as one of the season’s most talked-about contenders.

This marks Ben Hania’s return to the awards race following her 2024 Oscar nomination for Four Daughters in Best Documentary Feature. Tunisia previously made history when her 2020 film The Man Who Sold His Skin became the country’s first-ever nominee for Best International Feature.

The film also arrives with significant Hollywood support. Executive producers include Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara,...

After a warm reception at the Telluride Film Festival and earning a rare 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is currently in the glory days of the Oscar race. The film explores a defining chapter in Bruce Springsteen’s life, as he grapples with the weight of fame and his personal past while recording his stark 1982 album, Nebraska. Jeremy Allen White stars as Springsteen, with Jeremy Strong portraying his longtime producer, Jon Landau. Both performances are already generating awards buzz and have reportedly received the blessing of the Boss himself.

Here’s our breakdown of the film’s Academy Award chances.

Best Picture

Directed by Scott Cooper...

It’s good to be the king — make that the prince.

One of Shakespeare’s most-adapted plays, there have been over 50 film versions made of Hamlet — from classics like Laurence Olivier’s 1948 version, which won Best Picture and Best Actor, to Franco Zeffirelli’s 1990 film, starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, to family friendly interpretations like Disney’s The Lion King.

This year is no exception, with a trio of films inspired by the famous play making the rounds of the fall festivals, each with its own spin on the classic: Riz Ahmed's Hamlet, Oscar Isaac's King Hamlet documentary, and Chloé Zhao's Hamnet. There's even an animated Japanese version: Scarlet,...

Paul Mescal’s New Historical Drama Is a Rotten Tomatoes Hit(Photo Credit –Facebook)

After venturing into superhero territory with the underwhelming Marvel film Eternals in 2021, Academy Award-winning writer-director Chloé Zhao has made a glorious comeback with her latest feature. Get ready with a box of tissues, because you may need them on December 12, 2025, when the historical drama Hamnet releases nationwide in the U.S.

Starring Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) and Paul Mescal (Gladiator II) in the lead roles, Hamnet recently premiered at the 2025 edition of the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. The film has already debuted with a stellar critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Read on to find...

The Oscar race has one established frontrunner, which is often not the ideal place to be. As it happens, “Sinners” (Warner Bros.) auteur Ryan Coogler was checking out the competition at Telluride this Labor Day weekend, which unveiled a healthy slate of Oscar contenders.

Best Picture Contenders

One movie emerged that could challenge “Sinners” in multiple categories: Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) delivered heart-wrenching family drama “Hamnet” (Focus), featuring two powerhouse lead performances from Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as William and Agnes Shakespeare. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 bestseller, the film tracks their early romance and marriage and the birth of three children, two girls and a boy, Hamnet. Their lives are rocked by grief when they lose Hamnet to the plague, and Shakespeare buries himself in writing the tragedy “Hamlet.”

The directors will support Zhao’s meticulous period craftsmanship and scriptwriting with O’Farrell, along with the tech categories Cinematography,...

Focus Features killed it in Colorado with two “Jesses” and one Emma Stone.

On the ground, the story of what resonated — or flopped — at the Telluride Film Festival can look far different from the headlines. Still, one fact was hard to miss: Focus Features reigned over the mountains with Yorgos Lanthimos’ kaleidoscopic “Bugonia” and Chloé Zhao’s devastating “Hamnet,” both receiving near-universal acclaim from critics and festival-goers.

Telluride has long been a launchpad for eventual Oscar juggernauts. Recent alumni include Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” Zhao’s “Nomadland” and Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.” If this year’s best picture winner was present in the Rockies, Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel feels like the strongest candidate. A win would deliver Focus Features its first best picture statuette.

“‘Hamnet’ is a masterpiece,” one woman told Variety. “It could be one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

Chloé Zhao is rapidly cementing herself as one of the most interesting filmmakers of her generation, with unique and emotionally resonant projects. Her latest project, Hamnet, carries all the indicators of a potential awards-season favorite.

"I'm so happy our baby is taking its place in the world among the mountains," Zhao said at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado (via Variety). She was accompanied by the project's stars, Jessie Buckley, and the seemingly ubiquitous Paul Mescal, who has appeared in Aftersun, Gladiator II, the series Normal People, and is set to portray Sir Paul McCartney in an upcoming Beatles film.

Zhao led a meditation before presenting the heart-wrenching story, inspired...

The 69th BFI London Film Festival has unveiled an A-list roster of filmmakers set to participate in this year’s Screen Talks program.

Three-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis will sit down for a conversation, marking a rare public appearance for the reclusive actor. Day-Lewis, whose acclaimed filmography includes “There Will Be Blood,” “Lincoln” and “Phantom Thread,” remains the only performer to claim three best actor Oscars. His new film, “Anemone,” is premiering at the New York Film Festival.

Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, fresh off “Bugonia,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, will also participate in the program. Since his 2009 breakthrough “Dogtooth,” Lanthimos has carved out one of the most distinctive paths in contemporary cinema.

Richard Linklater, the filmmaker behind “Boyhood,” “Dazed and Confused” and the “Before” trilogy, will participate in the conversation series. His diverse filmography spans experimental works like “Slacker” and “Waking Life” to comedies including “School of Rock” and “Hit Man.

Daniel Day-Lewis, Richard Linklater, Yorgos Lanthimos and Tessa Thompson are among the stars set to participate in the BFI London Film Festival’s Screen Talks program this year.

Celebrated filmmakers Jafar Panahi, Lynne Ramsay and Chloé Zhao will also join for sessions at the 2025 festival, opening Oct. 8 with Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

Day-Lewis, the only person to win three best actor Oscars, is best known for his era-defining roles in such diverse films as My Beautiful Laundrette, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, My Left Foot, The Age of Innocence, There Will Be Blood, Lincoln and Phantom Thread. He is due to make his return to acting in the upcoming film Anemone, which also serves as his son Ronan’s directorial debut.

Lanthimos’ work has established him as one of the most renowned directors of the 21st century. His frequent collaborators include Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone,...

Five days into the fall film festivals, we’ve got ourselves a real awards season. Maybe even a monster awards season.

And for that, we might have to thank a couple of iconoclastic international filmmakers and a pair of British works of literature written in 1600 and 1818, or thereabouts.

That’s the conclusion after the first five days of the Venice Film Festival and the first three (out of only four) of the Telluride Film Festival, where Guillermo del Toro’s epic adaptation of “Frankenstein” and Chloé Zhao’s emotionally devastating Shakespeare riff “Hamnet” debuted and cemented themselves as formidable contenders.

Some of the high-profile films that have premiered so far...

Hamnet is a great work of empathy and the best film Chloé Zhao has made by quite a wide margin. Adapted from the 2020 novel by Maggie O’Farrell, who returns here as co-writer, the film serves as a lovely reminder of why art is important, how watching something can make you feel, make you understand, make you consider.

The film’s plot is simple: young Agnes (Jessie Buckley) marries her village’s master tutor William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and they have three children––an eldest girl named Eliza (Freya Hannan-Mills) and younger twins Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe). Judith barely survived birth, and Agnes fears she will lose her second daughter at any moment.

Hamnet, the latest work of the wonderful Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao, who won best picture and director Oscars for 2020’s Nomadland, is an adaptation, written by Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell, of O’Farrell’s best-selling 2020 novel of the same name about the Shakespeare family. A tearjerker of the first order, it has become — in the wake of its Aug. 29 world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, and subsequent screenings here, including the one that I caught Saturday at the Werner Herzog Theatre — the most talked-about film at the fest. It also has generated a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score (including a THR rave) and widespread Oscar buzz, not least for its lead performers.

Paul Mescal, an Oscar nominee for 2022’s Aftersun, plays William, a man of words, and Jessie Buckley, an Oscar nominee for 2021’s The Lost Daughter, plays Agnes, a woman of nature. Both emanate from troubled families, happen upon each other,...

A new William Shakespeare movie directed by an Oscar winner has debuted with a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. Shakespeare is perhaps the most notable playwright in the English language, having penned iconic Elizabethan dramas, histories, and comedies including Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet.

Innumerable movies adapted from Shakespeare plays have hit the screen from the very beginning of the art form. These range from early silent movies like 1916's The Merchant of Venice to modern adaptations such as 1999's 10 Things I Hate About You(reimagining The Taming of the Shrew) and 2006's She's the Man (reimagining Twelfth Night).

However, there are...

With a shaved head, expert line deliveries and the assembly of another all-time memorable character, Emma Stone continues driving this golden age of cinema. She might just be our modern-day Katharine Hepburn.

Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, Oscar-nominated director of “Poor Things” and “The Favourite,” has fully stepped into his Alfred Hitchcock era with “Bugonia,” which represents a bold new realm for the filmmaker. At the Telluride Film Festival, executive director Julie Huntsinger introduced Jesse Plemons as “Jesse F***ing Plemons,” and the actor lived up to the billing in every way.

After debuting at the Venice Film Festival, Lanthimos’ wildly audacious “Bugonia” unveiled itself to audiences at the Werner Herzog Theatre. The dark comedy presents the best kind of problem for distributor Focus Features for this Oscar season: how to shepherd two powerhouse contenders (the other being “Hamnet”) through the long, unpredictable marathon of awards campaigning and determine which narrative...

The Telluride Film Festival is one of awards season's biggest stages, and Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao delivered a command performance on its opening night. The Nomadland filmmaker's latest feature, Hamnet — which stars Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as his wife Agnes — took a first bow in front of an eager audience of critics and film fans, who spilled out of the theater feeling shaken and stirred.

"The most devastating movie I've seen in years," reads the headline of Bilge Ebiri's rave New York review of Hamnet, adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel that imagines what might have happened in the Shakespeare marriage following the death of...

The 52nd Telluride Film Festival is barely more than a day old and already there is a strong theme running through the new films here: art as a life altering experience. In Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, depression causes the superstar musician to go deep into his writing and recording a new album in order to find his true self. In Jay Kelly, George Clooney plays a mega movie star who takes a detour from his career in order to discover what has passed him by in his personal life. And now in Hamnet Chloé Zhao navigates how love and death collide at the intersection of William Shakespeare’s greatest play.

It’s a powerful argument all around about how the human experiences can transform into art and storytelling , and it is front and center in these films, with Hamnet perhaps being the most vivid example of them all. Based...

The first time we see Agnes (Jessie Buckley), she’s curled up asleep at the mossy base of a giant tree. Dressed in red and purple, she looks like a flower, or perhaps an organ — a heart out in the open, ready to be plucked up and held close. Next to her lies a void, a hollow beneath the roots so deep and so dark that it looks like nothing at all.

In Hamnet, the latest film from Oscar-winning Nomadland director Chloé Zhao, the two always go hand in hand: joy and fear, love and loss. One feeds into the other in a cycle as old as life itself, and unavoidable. But just as her William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) turns the pain of being caught between the two into the masterpiece that is Hamlet, Zhao harnesses those elements into something gorgeous and cathartic.

The first time Will sees Agnes, she...

By some perverse coincidence, this year at the Telluride Film Festival there were three movies about William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” but it’s the one spelled with the “n” that confronts the specter of death most profoundly — and packs the greatest catharsis.

As conceived by “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet” is so emotionally raw as to be almost excruciating at times. Jessie Buckley delivers a heroic performance as Shakespeare’s wife Agnes and the mother of his children — although as presented, she could be the mother of us all — the grounded, near-shamanic spirit forced to accept the death of her son, Hamnet. Meanwhile, Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare, who pours his grief into “the Danish play,” but both actor and character are eclipsed by the feminine elements of this story.

Here, I’m thinking about a conversation I had with its creator a couple of years ago. We were talking about the filmmaker Agnès Varda,...

Chloé Zhao's "Eternals" is an ambitious blockbuster, but the Marvel flick isn't without its flaws. The movie attempts to be both meditative and grandiose, and the experiment doesn't always work. As of this writing, it's one of the least well-received movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Zhao is the first to admit that the film has its problems.

While speaking to Vanity Fair, the director of "The Rider" and "Nomadland" explained that the freedom afforded to her while making "Eternals" was more of a curse than a blessing, and it proved to be the biggest hurdle the film encountered. However, the experience also taught her some valuable lessons about the filmmaking process,...

In a quaint theater in the Colorado mountains, where we lay our scene, a clear Oscar contender emerges.

Before Chloé Zhao’s anticipated drama “Hamnet” held its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday, the director took the stage with her two stars, Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, to lead the audience in a meditation before they took in her heartbreaking story. In a room that included some of her peers like “Sinners” director Ryan Coogler and actor-turned-director Harris Dickinson, the immaculate adaptation unspooled before the sold out crowd and captivated the audience.

The moving and fictionalized portrait of grief and loss that inspired one of history’s most treasured playwrights held the audience in its grip for 125 minutes, where audible sounds of sniffles and crying filled the venue, testifying to the film’s emotional depth. Moreover, the evening cemented a respect for Zhao as one of today...

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Chloé Zhao film, let alone one of her calm, meditative gems such as the Oscar-winning Nomadland or the quiet and contemplative The Rider. Now, after a stint in the world of Marvel with Eternals, she’s back with something that feels more in line with her earlier features — though this time, she’s adapting a hit novel. The first trailer for her new film, Hamnet, has dropped, and for those who’ve read the book, you’ll know this one is going to be an emotional gut-punch. Watch the trailer here:

Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed 2020 novel, the film...

Auteur adoration. Netflix and Neon domination. And Cannes rematches.

That’s what’s on the lineup for Telluride, the elite film festival that’s established itself as a premier awards tastemaker on the fall circuit.

While other festivals trumpet their lineups weeks in advance, Telluride traditionally holds theirs as a closely guarded secret until the day before the festival begins. Savvy awards watchers, though, have learned how to parse the language in other festivals’ releases — whether or not it’s designated as a Canadian premiere at TIFF, for example — to deduce which films will be making their debut in Colorado.

So it comes as little surprise — though certainly a welcome...

The Telluride Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 52nd edition, showcasing a mix of world premieres, international debuts and awards-season hopefuls from some of cinema’s most acclaimed auteurs.

Among the buzziest titles in the main program, known as the Show, are the world premieres of Chloé Zhao’s Shakespearean-set drama “Hamnet,” starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal; Edward Berger’s psychological thriller “Ballad of a Small Player,” with Colin Farrell; and Scott Cooper’s music biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” headlined by two-time Emmy winner Jeremy Allen White. In addition, three films will arrive from the Venice Film Festival after debuting there: Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” with Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone; Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler; and Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia,” the Italian drama opening Venice.

Other hot titles include a double dose of Richard Linklater with “Blue Moon,...

At the Telluride Film Festival, you never know who is going to stroll past you on the street, sit across from you on a gondola or catch a movie next to you in a cinema. This year, it might just be George Clooney, Werner Herzog, Jodie Foster, Jeremy Allen White, Wagner Moura, Claire Foy, Adam Sandler, Colin Farrell, Zoey Deutch, Dustin Hoffman, Riz Ahmed or one of the Skarsgards, father Stellan or son Alexander. They all have films in the lineup — which was announced by the fest on Thursday morning, includes over 60 features and shorts from more than 30 countries, and appears in full at the bottom of this post — and are expected to be in the Rockies over Labor Day weekend, along with subjects of documentaries that will be playing at the fest including David Remnick and E. Jean Carroll.

The highest-profile titles set to have their world premiere at...

The Boss is coming to Telluride.

20th Century’s Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere from director Scott Cooper, starring Jeremy Allen White as the title star, is set to launch its world premiere Friday night at the 52nd annual Telluride Film Festival, which announced its official schedule Thursday.

See the full lineup below.

In addition to Cooper, White, co-star Jeremy Strong and others, Bruce Springsteen himself will be on hand in the Rockies for the premiere of this much awaited film focusing on the making of his landmark album Nebraska.

Colin Farrell in ‘Ballad of a Small Player’ Netflix

Other world premieres include Netflix’s Ballad of a Small Player starring Colin Farrell as a man caught up in the gambling mecca of Macau. It is directed by Edward Berger, who was in Telluride last year launching his Oscar-winning Conclave that also landed a Best Picture Oscar nomination.

‘Hamnet’ Focus...

The MCU, once a cinematic powerhouse, has started to decline over the last few years, with several recent installments paling in comparison to some of the superhero crowd-pleasers that came before. One of the most infamous examples of the MCU’s struggles is 2021’s Eternals, and director Chloé Zhao has now offered her insight into why the sci-fi comic book outing proved so divisive.

After revealing to Vanity Fair how working on Eternals has prepared her for the upcoming historical drama, Hamnet, the Oscar-winning filmmaker revealed that too much “money and resources” was the downfall of Eternals, with the lack of limitations allowing things to quickly get out of control.

Chloé Zhao recently told Vanity Fair there weren’t a lot of “limitations” when she was directing her Marvel movie “Eternals,” which she called a “dangerous” thing. While the comic book tentpole managed to gross $402 million worldwide in the still pandemic-impacted box office of 2021, it is widely considered among Marvel fans to be one of the worst MCU movies. With a 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s also one of the worst reviewed.

With fall festival season kicking off, Zhao is finally returning with a new movie titled “Hamnet.” The Focus Features release is her first since “Eternals,” which opened in theaters after she won best picture and best director at the Oscars for “Nomadland.” The film stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as William and Agnes Shakespeare as they grieve the lost of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet.

“’Eternals’ prepared me for ‘Hamnet’ because it’s world-building,” Zhao told the publication.

Straight off her low-budget Best Picture winner “Nomadland,” writer/director Chloé Zhao next released a massive blockbuster: Marvel’s “Eternals.” However, Zhao said the financial freedom didn’t exactly lead to an influx of creativity.

“’Eternals’ had, like, an unlimited amount of money and resources. And here we have one street corner that we can afford, to [stand in for] Stratford …. ‘Eternals’ didn’t have a lot of limitations, and that is actually quite dangerous,” Zhao told Vanity Fair in an August. 22 interview. “Because we only have that street corner [in ‘Hamnet’], suddenly everything has meaning.”

Zhao is currently on the press tour for “Hamnet,” her highly anticipated next feature. Aside from “Eternals” (which...

The Venice Film Festival kicks off the fall fest season Wednesday and moves awards season into another gear.

These days, Cannes has become the bona fide start of awards season, and there are a handful of big Q4 movies dodging festivals all together, but this time of year remains when most of the studios show their hands.

Among talent with new movies premiering on the Lido are George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Idris Elba, Jacob Elordi, Cate Blanchett, Emily Blunt, Tony Leung, Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield, Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Alan Ritchson, Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Carmen Maura, Adam Sandler, Tony Servillo, Jude Law, Amanda Seyfried and Charli Xcx.

As we’ve reported, it’s also set to be a politically charged event with protests planned against Israel’s war in Gaza and movies on the same subject, as well as Russia-Ukraine, and biopics of Vladimir Putin and Mother Teresa.

Below,...

Universal Pictures has released the first teaser trailer for ‘Hamnet,’ the highly anticipated new drama from Academy Award®-winning writer and director Chloé Zhao. Opening in cinemas on January 9th, the film explores the untold story that forever changed the course of literary history.

Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel, ‘Hamnet’ tells the powerful and intimate love story of Agnes Hathaway (played by Jessie Buckley) and William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) — a bond tested by love, loss, and the echoes of immortality. At its heart lies the inspiration behind one of the greatest works ever written: Hamlet.

The atmospheric first look teases sweeping cinematography and Zhao’s signature lyrical style,...

After losing last year’s Oscar race to Cannes, Venice has come roaring back in 2025 with a lineup and positioning that many industry insiders say has put it firmly back in the driver’s seat for the fall awards season. While Cannes took Anora, Emilia Pérez and Flow — all of which went on to score major Oscar nominations and wins, with Anora racking up five nods, including best picture — Venice, whose 2024 edition can still boast about Brady Corbet’s triple Oscar winner The Brutalist, has reclaimed its reputation as the place where the season’s biggest contenders first touch down.

This year’s Venice slate is jam-packed with award hopefuls, including A24’s The Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie’s wrestling drama starring Dwayne Johnson in his first major dramatic role; Luca Guadagnino’s #MeToo-themed thriller After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, which will be Amazon MGM’s major award contender...

Award-winning directors Chloé Zhao and Lee Sang-il will be the recipients of the 2025 Kurosawa Akira Award at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival, which runs October 27-November 5.

The award recognizes filmmakers who have already made waves in cinema and are expected to help guide the industry in the future. Last year’s recipients were Japanese filmmaker Sho Miyake, who recently scooped the Locarno Film Festival’s Golden Leopard for Two Seasons, Two Strangers, and Taiwanese filmmaker Fu Tien-yu (Day Off).

Japan Academy Film Prize-winning director Lee was recently in Cannes with Directors Fortnight title Kokuho, about the son of a gangster who is taken in by a kabuki master, which also became a surprise hit at the Japanese box office.

After studying film at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image, Lee earned recognition for his graduation film Chong, which he followed with a string of award-winning films including...

Chloé Zhao is back with a new film, Hamnet, marking her first project since directing Marvel’s Eternals.

The superhero blockbuster had a budget far larger than Zhao’s previous films, including her acclaimed dramas The Rider and Nomadland, the latter of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. While critics were mixed on Eternals, Zhao sees it as an important stepping stone toward her current work.

“Eternals prepared me for Hamnet because it’s world-building. Before that, I had only done films that existed in the real world. I also learned what to do and not to do—what’s realistic and what isn’t,” Zhao explained.

She added,...

Chloé Zhao has returned to more intimate filmmaking with her latest project, Hamnet. Zhao told reporters that Eternals was a unique experience because it gave her “an unlimited amount of money and resources,” which was very different from her earlier dramas like Nomadland and The Rider.

“Eternals prepared me for Hamnet because it’s world-building. Before that, I had only done films that existed in the real world. I also learned what to do and not to do—what’s realistic and what isn’t,” Zhao said.

She explained that having unlimited resources in Eternals was exciting but also dangerous, whereas Hamnet has a very small, focused set: “Because we...

Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is set to honour filmmakers Lee Sang-il and Chloe Zhao with the Kurosawa Akira Award.

The award honors Kurosawa’s “legacy and ongoing influence” and is presented to filmmakers who have “made waves in cinema and are expected to help guide the industry’s future”. A ceremony to present the awards will be held at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo on November 3.

Lee, who was born in Niigata, Japan, won best director at the Japan Academy Awards for his 2006 film Hula Girls, and has since directed multiple award-winning films, including Villian (2010), Unforgiven (2013) and Rage (2016), of which...

The Kurosawa Akira Award, in celebration of Akira Kurosawa’s monumental legacy, will be presented this year to Lee Sang-il and Chloé Zhao. Chosen by a distinguished committee—Yamada Yoji, Narahashi Yoko, Kawamoto Saburo, and Programming Director Ichiyama Shozo—the award ceremony will take place at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo on Monday, November 3, 2025.

Lee Sang-il

Lee’s trajectory includes his breakthrough graduation film “Chong”, which won the Grand Prix at the Pia Film Festival in 2000. His major films—“Hula Girls”, “Villain”, “Unforgiven”, “Rage”, and “The Wandering Moon”—cemented his reputation as a masterful storyteller.

His 2025 film “Kokuho“, exploring the path of a Kabuki performer rising to the status of “living national treasure,...

Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao and Japanese director Lee Sang-il are to receive the prestigious Kurosawa Akira Award at the 38th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Named after the legendary Japanese auteur, the Kurosawa Akira Award honors filmmakers “who are making extraordinary contributions to world cinema and are expected to help define the film industry’s future.” The Tokyo festival decided to revive the honor in 2022 after a 14-year hiatus. Previous honorees include Steven Spielberg, Yōji Yamada, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Koji Fukada, Xiaogang Gu and Mouly Surya.

The 2025 honorees were chosen by a selection committee comprised of Yamada Yoji, Narahashi Yoko, Kawamoto Saburo and TIFF Programming Director Ichiyama Shozo. The Kurosawa Akira Award ceremony will be held at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo on Nov. 3.

Beijing-born Chloé Zhao is a writer, director, editor and producer who has scaled the heights of indie filmmaking and Hollywood.

Most people would be hard-pressed to deliver a comprehensive list of the many screen adaptations that the work of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare has received over the years. From period-appropriate retelling of Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth to modern adaptations like The Lion King (inspired by Hamlet) and 10 Things I Hate About You (based on The Taming of the Shrew), his timeless work continues to be an inspiration for authors, screenwriters and artists — and now, the legendary writer is at the center of Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao’s upcoming drama Hamnet.

On August 26, Focus Features released the official trailer for the new film, in which Paul Mescal...

Four years after directing The Eternals for Marvel Studios, two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao is back with a dreamy drama about the tragedy behind one of the world's greatest stories.

Hamnet began generating Oscar buzz before even a second of footage was available, and now that the first trailer is officially online, let's dine into what is sure to be a player in this year's awards discussion.

Here's everything you need to know about Hamnet.

What's it about?

Hamnet, based on the novel by Maggie O'Farrell, is a fictionalized account of the the death of William Shakespeare's son and the lives of those he left behind, including the bard's wife,...

Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet is coming soon!

The film will have a limited release in theaters on November 27, and will then open to theaters nationwide on December 12.

The movie, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as William and Agnes Shakespeare.

Joe Alwyn stars as Bartholomew, while Jacobi Jupe is Hamnet alongside Emily Watson, Jack Shalloo and David Wilmot.

Here’s the plot summary, via Variety: “Hamnet tells the story of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, as they grieve the loss of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet. The film follows the couple as they attempt to reconcile with the loss of their child, and how...

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Though it may not come as a surprise, it seems that Marvel Studios originally had much larger plans for "Eternals" as a franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Released in 2021 as one of the first post-"Avengers: Endgame" films, "Eternals" paired a massive, star-studded cast with an ambitious story spanning thousands of years. It was also directed by Chloé Zhao, who was fresh off winning a Best Director Oscar for "Nomadland," with the movie itself going on to win Best Picture as well. The stars seemed to align. Then, it all fell apart.

On a recent episode of the "Working...

“Tell me a story,” William Shakespeare’s wife asks him. “What story would you like?” he replies. “Something that moves me,” she says. Now there’s a setup.

Here is the first teaser trailer for Hamnet, Oscar winner Chloé Zhao story of love and loss that inspired the creation of the Bard’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet. Have a look above.

Aftersun Oscar nominee Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare, and The Lost Daughter Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley is his wife, renamed Agnes in the book and movie. The film is about her struggles to come to terms with the loss of their only son, Hamnet.

Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn also star in the pic, which has its Canadian premiere at Toronto next month. Nomadland double Oscar winner Zhao directs based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, who adapted the script along with the filmmaker.

Related: Venice Film Festival Lineup: Kathryn Bigelow,...

Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley explore the life of William Shakespeare and wife Agnes Shakespeare in the teaser trailer for Chloé Zhao’s feature Hamnet.

Focus Features releases the film in select theaters Nov. 27 before its wide release Dec. 12. Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn round out the cast for the movie that is based on author Maggie O’Farrell’s novel.

Hamnet follows the untold love story behind the classic Shakespearean play Hamlet, with Mescal as the famed playwright and Buckley as Agnes. The project is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

“You touched me, and what did you see?” Mescal asks Buckley in the trailer. Buckley replies, “I saw a landscape.” She adds, “And spaces, caves, tunnels and oceans, undiscovered countries. Deep dark black void.”

Zhao helmed Hamnet from a script she co-wrote with O’Farrell. The movie adapts O’Farrell’s acclaimed 2020 novel that...

The first trailer for “Nomadland” filmmaker Chloé Zhao’s new William Shakespeare drama “Hamnet” has been released.

The film is Zhao’s first since Marvel’s “Eternals,” her blockbuster 2021 follow-up to her Oscar-winning vagabond drama. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name, the new film tells a fictional story about the life of Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) and how the death of their 11-year-old son impacted both of their lives and the famous bard’s work.

Co-written by Zhao and O’Farrell, “Hamnet” is set to make its world premiere on Sunday, Sept. 7 at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Focus Features will then...

After most recently directingthe divisive Marvel movie, Eternals, Chloé Zhaois officially coming back to the big screen with Hamnet. Focus Features has officially released the first trailer for Hamnet ahead of the film’s December 12 release date, showing Gladiator II star Paul Mescal stepping into the shoes of William Shakespeare. Jessie Buckley can also be seen in the first trailer as Agnes, the wife of William Shakespeare, and the subject of the story. The film follows Agnes as she deals with the loss of their son, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe).

In addition to directing the film, Chloé Zhao also wrote the screenplay for Hamnet, which is based on the novel of...

Parting is such sweet sorrow in the first trailer for Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet.”

Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, “Hamnet” tells the story of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, as they grieve the loss of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet. The film follows the couple as they attempt to reconcile with the loss of their child, and how William Shakespeare began to write his beloved classic, “Hamlet.”

Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley star as William and Agnes Shakespeare, respectively, with Joe Alwyn set as Bartholomew. Jacobi Jupe stars as Hamnet alongside a supporting cast that includes Emily Watson, Jack Shalloo and David Wilmot.

Zhao wrote the screenplay with O’Farrell. Zhao, Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes, Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Kristie Macosko Krieger and Laurie Borg all serve as producers for the film. “Hamnet” is produced by Amblin Entertainment, Hera Pictures, Neal Street Productions, and Book of Shadows.