Things are moving fast for Roman Polanski’s “The Palace.” The film wrapped production in June and is already eyeing theatrical distribution in the countries where it was sold.
A November release date in those territories has been set. However, the Italian release date is January of 2023. There is still no French distributor, but I’m hearing that an offer has been put on the table. Things are now looking up for “The Palace.”
No word yet on whether or not it was submitted to a film festival. Polanski would have to speed up the editing process, there is no new info I can share at the moment. Venice would be an obvious choice, but they are set to announce their lineup at the end of this month, which doesn’t give Polanski much time.
The film, which cost $17 million to make, is being described as “a comedy showing the naivety, hedonism, corruption and social inequity which lie at the root of the world’s current problems.” The narrative “interweaves multiple storylines, spanning the entire social spectrum.” “The Palace” is being pitched as “above all, a provocative comedy – bitter at times, frivolous and eccentric at others, which will leave the viewer with a lingering question: what went wrong?”
The screenplay is credited to Joel and Ethan Coen! Eleanor Catton wrote the original draft, alongside Conor McPherson. So yes, Ethan has a writing credit here, which makes this a de facto Coen reunion.