Lynne Ramsey’s much-anticipated adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s “We Need To Talk About Kevin” reportedly won’t be ready in time for a release this year and is now instead eying a festival premiere sometime in 2011.
The adaptation, starring Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller and John C. Reilly, is currently lensing in Connecticut but is noted to be aiming for a release “sometime next year.” Producer Luc Roeg adds that the festival route will likely be taken though “the timing [of production completion] will dictate which festival that will be.”
Next year’s Cannes Film Festival is probably a likely candidate, though, with the film sure to be completed by next May for a return from Ramsey to the Croisette after “Ratcatcher” and “Movern Callar” debuted there in 1998 and 2002 respectively.
“We Need To Talk About Kevin” follows the story of a mother as she deals with the murderous high school rampage of her son two days before his 16th birthday, of which she feels responsible for. “Michael Clayton” producer Jennifer Fox is also on board as a producer and took the opportunity to hype up Swinton in her role as the mother, Eva.
“I felt strongly that Tilda was the perfect person to play Eva,” Fox told indieWire. “The role requires an incredibly complex mix of intelligence and empathy. Tilda is so strong at conveying a character’s impulses and often unconscious desires. She’s absolutely riveting. When watching her, one is never certain what will happen next and it has nothing to do with typical cinematic or genre conventions of suspense. When Lynne cast Tilda in the role, the project truly took on a life of its own. It was very exciting.”
The new date is definitely a severe blow to 2010 film calendar, which is already shaping up to be pretty underwhelming, but we guess it’s just good news for 2011. “Hold onto your hat,” Swinton teases. “I think it’s going to be what the Americans might call a ‘doozy.’”