So you have a depression-era drama directed by arthouse favorite Susanne Bier (whose "In A Better World" nabbed the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2011), starring Jennifer Lawrence (megastar and Oscar winner) and Bradley Cooper (Oscar nominated twice) —what could possibly go wrong? While we haven’t yet seen the film, it says something that two years have passed since "Serena" wrapped production, and not a peep has been heard of it since. There have been no festival appearances, trailers or even many pictures, which seems odd given the talent involved. But suddenly, the movie is gearing up for a U.K. release in just a couple of months.
Stylist has debuted a new image from the movie, and we’re certainly surprised to see this sudden flurry of movement. The movie is based on the novel by Ron Rash and tells a tale of ambition and vengeance. Here’s the official synopsis:
North Carolina mountains at the end of the 1920s —George and Serena Pemberton, love-struck newly-weds, begin to build a timber empire. Serena soon proves herself to be equal to any man: overseeing loggers, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving a man’s life in the wilderness. With power and influence now in their hands, the Pembertons refuse to let anyone stand in the way of their inflated love and ambitions. However, once Serena discovers George’s hidden past and faces an unchangeable fate of her own, the Pemberton’s passionate marriage begins to unravel leading toward a dramatic reckoning.
Again, how could this go wrong? And while the film could turn out be good — you never know, right?— we’d wager if it had been quality, it wouldn’t have been sitting on a shelf this long.
"Serena" opens in the U.K. on October 24th via StudioCanal, with more European dates to follow this fall. Magnolia snapped up the U.S. rights for this movie over a year ago, but no release date has been set. And in case you really need to know, the movie runs 102 minutes long.
