After returning to Chile with Ema for his Jackie follow-up, Pablo Larraín is now back to major English-language productions. Shooting has begun on Spencer, which focuses on one weekend in the life of Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart), 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.
With the first look revealed above, the cast has also expanded Stewart will be joined by Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, and Sean Harris. Shooting is taking place in Germany and the UK, and the film is eying a fall 2021 release ahead of 2022, which will mark the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death.
Rounding out the crew is Director of Photography Claire Mathon (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran (Academy award-winner for Little Women and Anna Karenina), Make Up and Hair Designer Wakana Yoshihara (Murder On The Orient Express, High Rise) and Guy Hendrix Dyas (Academy Award nominee for Passengers and Inception) is the Production Designer. Composing the original score is Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy Award nominee, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (You Were Never Really Here, Phantom Thread).
Here’s the new synopsis as well: “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.”
“SPENCER is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life. 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,” Stewart said.