Focus Features announced today it will be releasing Bugonia, the latest film from acclaimed director Yorgos Lanthimos, for a special limited engagement on October 24th, ahead of a wide expansion on October 31st. The weeklong cinematic event will feature screenings of the film, which was shot in VistaVision, at select locations in New York and Los Angeles.
Bugonia stars Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone. Lanthimos directs from a screenplay by Will Tracy whose recent credits include The Menu and Succession. Lanthimos is an internationally renowned, five-time Academy Award®-nominated director, producer, and screenwriter known for such visionary films as Poor Things, The Favourite, and The Lobster.
Bugonia sees two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced she is an alien intent on destroying Planet Earth. The film is produced by Element Pictures’ Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe; Yorgos Lanthimos via Pith; Emma Stone via Fruit Tree; Square Peg’s Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen; and CJ ENM’s Miky Lee and Jerry Kyoungboum Ko.
The new Bugonia release plan comes as Focus continues to solidify its slate for the fall. Last week, the company set late 2025 release dates for Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, and Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. Other upcoming films include Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme; Ronan Day-Lewis’ feature debut Anemone, starring and co-written by Daniel Day-Lewis; Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t!, starring Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, and Chris Evans; and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, the final installment of the global hit franchise.
