Filming is now underway on the Princess Diana drama, Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart (Personal Shopper, Clouds of Sils Maria, the Twilight film franchise). Neon announced the start of production with the release of the first photo of Stewart as Princess Di.
Spencer, directed by Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Neruda), will shoot in the UK and Germany. Neon’s targeting an autumn 2021 release.
Kristen Stewart’s joined by BAFTA Award nominee Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner, The Party), Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), and Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible – Fallout). Steven Knight (Locke, Peaky Blinders and Academy Award nominee for Dirty Pretty Things) wrote the screenplay. Juan de Dios Larraín (Jackie) for Fabula Films, Jonas Dornbach and Janine Jackowski (A Fantastic Woman) for Komplizen Film, and BAFTA award winner and Academy award nominee Paul Webster (Anna Karenina) for Shoebox Films serve as producers.
Tom Quinn and NEON’s Jeff Deutchman and Christina Zisa executive produce along with Topic Studios’ Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman, and Ryan Heller. Larraín’s behind-the-scenes team includes Director of Photography Claire Mathon, Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran, Make Up and Hair Designer Wakana Yoshihara, and Production Designer Guy Hendrix Dyas.
“We are extremely grateful for the support of our distributors worldwide, our partners and funders who have shown tremendous commitment to us in these extraordinary times. With Kristen Stewart, Steven Knight and the rest of our fantastic team both in front and behind the camera we are bringing Spencer to the world. It is an independently produced film made for the big screen about an iconic woman’s own declaration of independence. We couldn’t be more excited!” stated producers Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Juan de Dios Larraín, Paul Webster, and director Pablo Larraín.
“Spencer is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life,” explained Stewart. “It is a physical assertion of the sum of her parts, which starts with her given name; Spencer. It is a harrowing effort for her to return to herself, as Diana strives to hold onto what the name Spencer means to her.”
Neon issued the following synopsis of Spencer:
Spencer focuses on one weekend in the life of Princess Diana, as she spends the Christmas holiday with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, and decides to leave her marriage to Prince Charles.
December, 1991: The Prince and Princess of Wales’ marriage has long since grown cold. Though rumours of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. This year, things will be a whole lot different.
