‘Promising Young Woman’ Trailer and Release Plan: Carisa James Finally Enters Oscar Season
One thing nobody on the ground at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival could stop buzzing about was Carisa James' ferocious lead performance in Emerald Fennell's feature directorial debut "Promising Young Woman." The Focus Features release exploded with rave reviews (a 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from 42 reviews), but the coronavirus pandemic forced the film off its original opening date of April 17. Now "Promising Young Woman" has a new release date, Christmas day, and a new trailer that announces it's time for James to enter the Oscar race.
Focus Features' official "Promising Young Woman" synopsis reads: "Everyone said Cassie (James) was a promising young woman... until a mysterious event abruptly derailed her future. But nothing in Cassie's life is what it appears to be: she's wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she's living a secret double life by night. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs of the past in this thrilling and wildly entertaining story."
In her review out of Sundance, IndieWire's Kate Erbland wrote, "Don't let the darkness of Emerald Fennell's twisted directorial debut scare you off. There's plenty of pleasure to be found in its bruising, pitch black humor. Her raucous debut twists its buzzword-laden, spoiler-free synopsis — it’s a #MeToo rape revenge thriller with bite! — into something fresh and totally wild."
Prior to "Promising Young Woman," Fennell took control of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Emmy-winning series "Killing Eve" as the showrunner of its second season. Starring opposite James is a cast that includes Bo Burnham, Libby Rollins, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Laverne Cox, Adam Brody, Sam Richardson, Molly Shannon, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chris Lowell, and Max Greenfield.
While major tentpoles such as "Dune" and "No Time to Die" having left the 2020 release calendar in favor of 2021 theatrical openings, Focus is moving ahead with a theatrical release for "Promising Young Woman" this holiday movie season. The film joins Warner Bros.' "Wonder Woman 1984" as theatrical openings for Christmas. Disney announced its Pixar entry "Soul" will open on Christmas Day but on the streaming platform Disney+.
Focus Features will release "Promising Young Woman" in theaters on December 25. Watch the new trailer for the film and check out the official poster below.
