In 2020, Emerald Fennell established herself as one of the brightest and sharpest voices in show business today with her incredible genre-bending Academy Award-winning movie, Promising Young Woman, which earned her an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Since then, the actor/director/writer has appeared in the Barbie cast, been attached to a project involving a DC Fan-favorite, and served as a writer for the upcoming Ballerina movie, which is set in the John Wick universe. Before she does the latter two, however, Fennell will release her sophomore feature film: Saltburn.
If this is the first you’re hearing about Saltburn, don’t worry, because we are about to break down everything we know about it, including the film’s release date, who’s set to appear, what it’s about, and what else we can expect from the upcoming drama centered on college students, eccentric families, and massive mansions...
What Is The Saltburn Release Date?
Saltburn is set for a limited release on Friday, November 24th, two days after Ridley Scott’s Napoleon makes its debut. Emerald Fennell’s followup to Promising Young Woman will have a wider rollout when it's expanded nationwide on December 1st, per Deadline.
While Napoleon is set to make its streaming debut at some point on Apple TV+, Fennell’s movie will eventually land on Prime Video, meaning anyone with an Amazon subscription will be able to give it a watch sooner or later. Expect to hear more about the film’s streaming debut as we get closer to its theatrical release date.
Barry Keoghan And Jacob Elordi Lead The Saltburn Cast
Emerald Fennell worked with a large group of talented actors for the Promising Young Woman cast, and that will once again be the case with Saltburn. Amazon Studios has announced that the cast will be led by The Banshees of Inisherin Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan and Euphoria star Jacob Elordi, who’ll be playing struggling Oxford student Oliver Quick and and the well-to-do Felix Catton, respectively.
Though the roles of the other members of the cast have yet to be announced, there’s a great group of actors set to appear in Saltburn, including Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Gran Turismo star Archie Madekwe, Ewan Mitchell, Reece Shearsmith, Paul Rhys, and Carey Mulligan, who teamed up with Fennell once again.
The Movie Follows A College Student As He Spends The Summer With A Classmate And His Eccentric Family
Though many of the finer details are being kept under wraps for the time being, Amazon Studios has provided us with a tease of what we can expect to see go down when Saltburn premieres later this year. According to the film’s official synopsis, it will follow Oliver Quick as is drawn into the world of Felix Catton, a charming and charismatic classmate who invites him to spend a summer at Saltburn, his eccentric and wealthy family’s sprawling estate. A “summer never to be forgotten” is teased at the end of the description, leaving the door open for many possibilities.
Will this be a coming-of-age drama, a quirky comedy full of absurdly rich people who live in a different world than the rest of us, or a combination of some sort? Considering what Fennell did with Promising Young Woman, it’s anyone’s guess. That being said, she’s more than up to the task.
Emerald Fennell Has Described The Movie As A ‘Very British Tale Of Excess’
One month before opening in theaters, Saltburn will have its international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 4th. When touching upon the idea of having her movie open the festival in a statement (via Variety), Emerald Fennell talked about the “extra-special” feeling of being a part of the event, before describing the movie as a “very British tale of excess, saying:
I’m honored that our film is able to open this year’s BFI London Film Festival. It is a festival that inspired me so much growing up, one that I followed excitedly from my bedroom on the other side of London. It feels extra-special that Saltburn, this very British tale of excess, is able to make its international debut at the wonderful BFI.
In the same article, BFI Festivals Director Kristy Matheson said the movie features “exceptional performances, delicious plot twists, and a soundtrack of early 21st century pop bangers.” She also described the upcoming film as “hugely ambitious.”
Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment Is Producing Saltburn
Barbie wasn’t the only time Emerald Fennell and Margot Robbie worked together this year, as the Barbernheimer icon also produced Saltburn as part of her LuckyChap Entertainment company, according to Deadline.
The company, which Robbie founded alongside husband Tom Ackerly back in 2014, has gone on to produce multiple films that have received Academy Awards, including its debut 2017 feature film, I, Tonya, and Promising Young Woman, which as you may remember, was written and directed by Fennell. Other productions include Birds of Prey, Boston Strangler, and the aforementioned Barbie, which is still taking the world by storm at the time of this writing in August 2023.
Academy Award-Winning Cinematographer Linus Sandgren Is The Director Of Photography
Emerald Fennell isn’t the only Academy Award winner working behind the scenes on Saltburn, as Linus Sandgren, who took home an Oscar for his brilliant cinematography during the making of La La Land, was the film’s director of photography, according to Collider.
Over the course of his career, Sandgren has worked on movies like Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land, two David O. Russell movies, and Damien Chazelle’s three most recent pictures: the aforementioned La La Land, First Man, and Babylon. The cinematographer also received a great deal of praise for his work 2021’s No Time to Die, which earned him a BAFTA nomination.
There’s certainly a lot about Saltburn that has us excited, and that anticipation will only continue to grow as we get closer to its November 24th release date. We just can’t wait to see the trailer when it finally arrives and see more of its stars in action. Until then, make sure to take a look at the 2023 movie schedule so you don’t miss out on any of the other upcoming releases.
