The Making of ‘Bugonia’: Yorgos Lanthimos’ First Call? Emma Stone, of Course
The Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos adopted a new approach for his latest film by collaborating with Succession writer Will Tracy to remake a Korean cult classic. His initial step, however, was familiar: reaching out to his longtime muse, Emma Stone.
A New Direction for Lanthimos
Upon reading the script for Bugonia, Lanthimos realized he would do two things new to his career: direct a film he hadn’t developed himself and explore a story more explicitly about the current state of the world than his previous, more abstract works.
“Up until this point, I’d read scripts, but I’ve never been so excited immediately afterward that I would say, ‘This is almost ready for me to make just as it is,’” Lanthimos recalls. “To be handed something that was already so great was a tremendous gift.”
Quick Connection with Emma Stone
Shortly after finishing the script, Lanthimos sent it to Emma Stone, who had starred in his previous three films. Stone responded enthusiastically.
“I read it that same day, and from then on, we were like, let’s do this,” Stone says. “It was really crazy for me because ever since The Favourite, I’ve seen the projects we’ve done together in very different states of being, where they take years to develop. This was the first time we received a script and were like, ‘Whoa, let’s go make this right away,’ and it basically doesn’t require any process.”
Efficient Collaboration
Unlike past projects that took years to develop, this film's script arrived in a near-final form, prompting a swift decision to move forward without delay.
Author's summary: Yorgos Lanthimos embraced a fresh filmmaking challenge with Bugonia, quickly uniting with Emma Stone to create a timely, nearly-ready script unlike his past projects.