If you think waiting for the Amy Adams thriller, “Nightbitch,” is agonizing, just imagine how directing Marielle Heller feels. A horror comedy about a woman who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but then domesticity takes a wild and surreal turn, “Nightbitch” began shooting back in October 2022. While it was thought to be ready for a 2023 release, Searchlight Pictures only recently set “Nightbitch” for a December 6, 2024 release—more than two years after it was shot.
READ MORE: ‘Nightbitch’: Amy Adams & Marielle Heller’s Surreal Dramedy Sets Dec. 6 Release Date
Speaking to Indiewire on the red carpet of Film and Lincoln Center’s 49th Chaplin Gala honoring actor Jeff Bridges, fans dying for Amy Adams’ first screen appearance in 2022’s “Disenchanted” should note Heller feels the same way.
“The truth is, it got delayed because of the strike, which is fine; we needed to strike,” Heller explained about the delay, presumably meaning that pencils were also down in the “Nightbitch” editing room last summer.
“It was an important thing, but it’s hard to wait. It’s hard to be done with a movie and not have it come out,” Heller added about her impatience with the release. “I don’t think I’m supposed to say something like this, but it’s kind of like having creative blue balls. We want this movie to come out and be in the world. I’m just so excited that it’s finally coming out, and we’re going to get to share it.”
Based on Rachel Yoder’s acclaimed debut novel of the same name, “Nightbitch” also stars Scoot McNairy, Zoe Chao, Ella Thomas, Mary Holland, and Garrett C. Phillips, but clearly, it’s something of a starring vehicle for Adams. Given it’s a December release, she could also potentially land square in the middle of the awards race. Adams has been nominated for Oscars six times previously but has never won an award yet.
“She’s incredible,” Heller teased of her performance in the movie. “I mean, we all know Amy Adams is incredible. She’s been nominated for a million Academy Awards. She’s amazing, but she really is special in this movie, and I’m just so excited for the world to see her. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen from her before. She’s fierce and funny and dark and complicated, and it’s good.”
Produced by Annapurna Pictures, “Nightbitch” was initially slated for a release on Hulu but is now scheduled to be released theatrically via Searchlight Pictures on December 6, 2024. Hopefully, a trailer arrives sooner rather than later.