Kristen Stewart and Olivier Assayas, who have yet to make a mediocre movie together, are teaming up for a third time, and the pair are heading back into the ghostly territory that gave us one of Assayas' best films, "Personal Shopper."
According to the fine folks over at IONCINEMA, Assayas' next film is titled "Spiritual World," and it comes with a seriously stacked ensemble.
Stewart will play Ada, a haunted young woman with clairvoyant abilities who begins receiving mysterious premonitions. Joining her are Vicky Krieps, Niels Schneider, Riley Keough, Wagner Moura and German cinema legend Barbara Sukowa, best known for her landmark work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Margarethe von Trotta.
The project reportedly steps into the same supernatural and fantastical realms Assayas explored in "Irma Vep" and "Personal Shopper." Music to my ears.
Cameras are set to roll in February, with the shoot running through April across parts of France and Germany. A Cannes 2027 bow seems unlikely given the spring wrap, but Venice 2027 or Cannes 2028 feel very much in play.
Stewart and Assayas previously collaborated on 2014's "Clouds of Sils Maria," which won her a César, and 2016's "Personal Shopper," which earned Assayas Best Director at Cannes. That second film remains, for my money, one of the best things either of them has done, so the prospect of another spectral outing together is about as exciting as it gets. Add Krieps and Sukowa to the mix, and this instantly becomes one of the most anticipated European productions of 2027.
Assayas hasn't exactly been on a hot streak lately. "Non-Fiction," "Wasp Network," "Suspended Time" and "The Wizard of the Kremlin" all fell short, and his last truly strong outing was "Personal Shopper." This could be the one that puts him back in the conversation.
According to Tariq, Marvel is upfront about it. They tell you, politely, that what you're making is "a Marvel film directed by a person .. They crop your shots. They change things.”