Focus Features Lands Yorgos Lanthimos’ Next Film, Bugonia, Starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons

Bugonia, the next film from six-time Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, has landed at Focus Features. Focus will release Bugonia in the U.S., with Universal Pictures distributing internationally (excluding Korea).

The film stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons and follows two conspiracy obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.

Bugonia is based on the South Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet! (2003). This English language version was developed by CJ ENM with Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen at Square Peg. The production has been financed by Fremantle and CJ ENM.

Directed by Lanthimos, Bugonia is written by Will Tracy and produced by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe (Element Pictures), Lanthimos, Aster and Knudsen (Square Peg), Stone (Fruit Tree), and Miky Lee and Jerry Kyoungboum Ko (CJ ENM).

Peter Kujawski, the Chairman of Focus Features, said, “Yorgos Lanthimos is a cinematic visionary with a singular style that has captivated audiences worldwide. We could not be more excited to partner with him, Emma, and the incredible teams at Element, Square Peg, and CJ ENM to reimagine this twisted and darkly funny story.”

Producers Guiney and Lowe added, “We are so looking forward to working with the brilliant team at Focus Features, and are delighted to be re-uniting with Yorgos, Emma and Jesse as well as many of the great crew we have collaborated with on recent films.”

Producer Ko said, "I am thrilled to introduce the intriguing story rooted in Korean Cinema's hidden gem, in collaboration with the ideal team of talent and producers, alongside the reliable studio. I expect that Yorgos will ignite a dynamic chemical fusion with his unique style and the novelty of the narrative."

Christian Vesper, CEO Global Drama at Fremantle, also said, “We are thrilled that Fremantle is coming on board for Yorgos’s latest project and are proud to support the wonderful team at Element. Yorgos’s films are consistently innovative and captivating, and we are delighted to join him and all the wonderful partners on Bugonia."

Six-time Academy Award® nominated filmmaker, Lanthimos was born in Athens, Greece. He launched to international attention in 2009 with his second feature film, Dogtooth, winner of the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 62nd Festival de Cannes and nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film. His first English language feature film, The Lobster, received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The Killing of a Sacred Deer premiered in competition at the 70th Festival de Cannes and won the Best Screenplay prize. His next film, The Favourite, premiered in 2018 at the 75th Venice Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize - Silver Lion and its star Olivia Colman won the Copa Volpi - Best Actress Award. The film then went on to receive a leading ten Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and won Best Actress for Colman. Lanthimos’ 2023 film, Poor Things, won the Golden Lion at the 2023 Venice film festival and earned 11 Academy Award® nominations and took home four wins, including Best Actress for star Stone. Most recently, Kinds of Kindness held its world premiere at the 77th Festival de Cannes and opens theatrically in the U.S. on June 21, 2024.