‘Poor Things’ Features Emma Stone at Her Best
CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
Cynthia Littleton
The movie that kicked off awards season is now the final Variety cover of this year’s Oscar race. Since it launched at the Venice Film Festival — where it won the jury’s top prize, the Golden Lion — “Poor Things” has done more than stick around. It’s made money (nearly $100 million worldwide) and made waves, with its bold and unmistakable vision getting rewarded with 11 Oscar nominations. Among the nominees are director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone, and both gave us an inside look at their creative process.
Stone built her character, Bella Baxter, from the ground up; Bella begins the movie as an adult woman with the brain of a baby. Her transformation could win Stone, at 35, her second best actress Oscar (after her 2017 win for “La La Land”). She’s in close competition with Lily Gladstone, who also gave a careerdefining performance in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” but Stone — having just won the BAFTA — might have a small edge.
Speaking of the BAFTAS, Variety saw a 60% increase in our coverage of the U.K. awards show on Feb. 18.
Ramin Setoodeh
We’d like to thank Ellise Shafer, K.J. Yossman, Alex Ritman, Naman Ramachandran and especially Elsa Keslassy, our executive editor of international. This team worked hard to bring you all the latest from London, where “Oppenheimer” continued its winning streak — taking home best picture, director and actor for Cillian Murphy. As it finishes up awards season, our international team has also been looking ahead, working overtime to bring you the most up-to-date deals and screenings out of the Berlin Film Festival.
Can “Poor Things” deliver a win for Stone — and does it stand a chance in a best picture field that “Oppenheimer” has dominated so far? As Oscars voting begins this week, we can’t wait to see the surprises the telecast will have in store. And our cover story about “Poor Things,” written by Stephen Rodrick, caps off an especially strong year at Variety. We’ve featured all the frontrunners — from “Oppenheimer” to “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Barbie,” “American Fiction” and “Maestro” — front and center for months in the pages of our magazine.