Daniel Craig stars in Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of William S Burrough’s famous novel Queer, which now has a new trailer.
Next month will see A24 release Queer, Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of the William S Burroughs autobiographical novel about love, desire and self-loathing. Daniel Craig stars as as William Lee, the film’s protagonist, joined by Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, Henry Zaga, Andra Ursuta, Michael Borremans and David Lowery.
Guadagnino’s Challengers made plenty of waves when it released in cinemas earlier this year, and the filmmaker has wisely chosen again work with that film’s composers, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who return to score Queer.
Here’s the synopsis for the new film:
‘Craig plays Lee – a self-conscious, insecure man living it up in 1950s Mexico City surviving on GI Bill benefits and part-time jobs among expat American college students. He becomes infatuated with Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a recently discharged young U.S. Navy serviceman and drug user from Florida newly arrived in town.’
The novel itself wasn’t published in America for decades (it emerged in 1988). The author has always been something of a lightning rod for controversy with the tale acting as a follow-up of sorts to Junkie, which also caused a storm when it was censored before release in 1953. American booksellers were also arrested for selling Burroughs’ The Naked Lunch, a book adapted by David Cronenberg into a feature film in 1991.
That film really struggled at the box office and we’re intrigued to see whether decades later, the legendary author’s work will resonate with audiences.
As for Guadagnino, he seems to be one of the busiest directors around. The filmmaker’s slate continues to grow, with an American Psycho remake being the latest addition to a list of projects that also includes After The Hunt, starring Julia Roberts. There’s also his take on Lord Of The Flies, which is said to be in the works, not to mention his adaptation of Pier Vittorio Tondelli’s Italian cult novel, Separate Rooms.
Queer is set for release on 13th December here in the UK. Here’s that trailer below.
