Neon on Monday morning dropped the first trailer for Anora, its romantic dramedy from filmmaker Sean Baker (The Florida Project), which brought the company its fifth Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Starring Better Things‘ Mikey Madison, the awards contender centers on her character Anora, a high class stripper from Brooklyn who falls in love and soon marries a Russian oligarch’s son. Thereafter, his family gets involved and complications ensue.
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Also starring Mark Eydelshteyn, Yuriy Borisov, Karren Karagulian, and Vache Tovmasyan, the film is slated to open in limited release on October 18. FilmNation Entertainment produced, along with Samantha Quan, Alex Coco and Baker, seeing the film draw a 10-minute standing ovation in its world premiere at Cannes.
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Anora marks the eighth writing and directing endeavor for Baker on the heels of his 2021 dark comedy, Red Rocket, starring Simon Rex, which also premiered at Cannes. His previous film, 2017’s The Florida Project, premiered to critical acclaim in the Directors’ Fortnight section of Cannes and wound up bringing star Willem Dafoe an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as Baker was named Best Director by the New York Film Critics Circle. Baker previously helmed titles including 2015’s Sundance-premiering Tangerine, shot on a handful of iPhones, which won an Independent Spirit and two Gotham Awards, and 2012’s Starlet, which claimed the Independent Spirit Awards’ Robert Altman Award. Other past works include 2008’s Prince of Broadway and 2004’s Take Out, both of which snagged the John Cassavetes prize at the Independent Spirits.
Recently securing its biggest opening ever at $22M+ with the Maika Monroe-Nicolas Cage serial killer horror thriller Longlegs from filmmaker Osgood Perkins, Neon will next release Benoît Delhomme’s psychological thriller Mothers’ Instinct, starring Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway, on July 26. Other upcoming titles from the company include Tilman Singer’s horror thriller Cuckoo (August 9), starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, and Perkins’ Stephen King adaptation The Monkey, starring Theo James, which hits theaters on February 21, 2025.
Anora is set to open against Searchlight’s awards prospect A Real Pain, marking the sophomore feature of Jesse Eisenberg; Lionsgate’s thriller Flight Risk teaming director Mel Gibson and star Mark Wahlberg; Roadside’s drama Exhibiting Forgiveness; Paramount’s Smile 2; and an as-yet-unnamed title from Universal Pictures. Check out the trailer for Anora above.