Over the past decade, Luca Guadagnino has become one of the in, biggest auteurs of the generation. Perhaps that felt inevitable for those who remember the 2009 Venice Film Festival world premiere of his breakout “I Am Love.” But 2015’s “A Bigger Splash,” a sly retelling of the Jacues Deray‘s 1969 French classic “La piscine,” cemented Guada with stateside audiences. Without that underrated film, would Guada even have the career he has today?
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So here’s good news for fans of that one: World Of Reel (via Dazed) confirms that Guada’s extended cut of the 2015 film, endearingly titled “An Even Bigger Splash,” is getting a release, and soon. “Yes, for sure. 100 per cent,” Guadagnino said when asked about it ever reaching audiences. “We’re finalizing it.” The first cut of the film, which runs 195 minutes, has only had one screening to date: a rough cut with “no effects, no mix, nothing” at the 2022 Göteborg Film Festival. But now an official release of the extended edition sounds imminent. What will its rollout be? Guada didn’t comment, but “100%” indicates it could come out as soon as next year.
The 2015 film stars Tilda Swinton as Marianne, a rock star on a vacation retreat with her hubby Matthias Schoenaerts to recover from vocal chord surgery. But their idyll gets interrupted by Ralph Fiennes‘ Harry, Marianne’s ex-music producer (and ex-lover), with Dakota Johnson‘s Penelope, Harry’s newly discovered daughter, in tow. It’s not long before old hurts, and new desires, start to flame between the foursome, but this sexy, sun-kissed film veers wildly beyond audience expectations. “A Bigger Splash” ends up not being the movie one expects it to be, and it’s easy to imagine “An Even Bigger Splash” diverts expectations even further.
But expectations that “An Even Bigger Splash” will arrive in 2025 might end up too hopeful. That’s because Guadanino told IndieWire two years ago he was in the “process of finalizing” the extended cut after its Göteborg screening. “It’s going to take a few months, because we need to scan, make the effects, new songs, new mix, new everything. But we’ll do it and then we’ll see what we can do with it, which will make some festivals and probably a small festival run. Then the powerful streamers can get it. I don’t know, we’ll see.”
Since that interview, Guada’s shot “Challengers” and “Queer,” both out this year, as well as “After The Hunt,” so he’s been a busy guy. But too busy to finish “An Even Bigger Splash”? Guada’s comments to Dazed sounds like that’s not the case, but that doesn’t confirm the cut will hit festivals and a streamer next year.
Still, Guada sounds like he loved returning to the world of “A Bigger Splash,” Swinton’s Marianne in particular. “There’s an in-depthness, about the desire unleashed in the movie and the fandom to Marianne Lane,” he explained. “The opportunity to bring it back to somewhere new and to go with them all again, that’s magic.”
So maybe 2025 brings another one-two punch from Guada similar to “Challengers” and “Queer” this year? “After The Hunt,” an academic thriller starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edibiri, and Andrew Garfield, will undoubtedly get a festival premiere next year. And if “An Even Bigger Splash” follows suit, that’d be icing on the cake for Guada fans.
