4 years for the reason that arrival of Chloé Zhao‘s Eternals on the large display, her follow-up movie, Hamnet, has lastly launched its first picture. An adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the identical identify, the movie affords a fictionalized account of creator William Shakespeare and his spouse Agnes Shakespeare (who was actually named Anne Hathaway) as they deal with the demise of their 11-year-old son Hamnet. Zhao not solely directed, however is the co-writer of the movie alongside O’Farrell, and administrators Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes are signed on as producers.
The primary picture of Hamnet, revealed by way of Discussing Movie, will be seen beneath. The film options Paul Mescal (Gladiator II) as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley (The Misplaced Daughter) as Anne Hathaway. Different solid members embody Joe Alwyn (The Brutalist), Emily Watson (Chernobyl), Jacobi Jupe (Peter Pan & Wendy), Jack Shalloo (1917), and David Wilmot (Improbable Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald). Hamnet will premiere on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant on Sept. 7, 2025, and may have a restricted theatrical launch on Nov. 27 earlier than going nationwide on December 12.
Chloé Zhao’s Lengthy-Awaited Return
As beforehand talked about, Hamnet marks Chloé Zhao’s first characteristic movie since Eternals was launched in 2021. Eternals confronted heavy expectations, as Marvel Studios touted it as a possible Finest Image nominee like Black Panther. This appeared affordable, on condition that within the time between Eternals‘ announcement and its launch, Zhao received the Finest Image and Finest Director Academy Awards for Nomadland. Sadly, Eternals underperformed on the field workplace, and its extra experimental tone made it the primary MCU movie to land a Rotten ranking on Rotten Tomatoes. Not solely did it put the Eternals franchise on the again burner, however it additionally appeared to influence Zhao’s profession.
Zhao had been engaged on a sci-fi western model of Dracula at Common Footage earlier than Eternals got here out. Regardless of having an Academy Award win and critically acclaimed movies like The Rider and Songs My Brother Taught Me on her resume, that mission’s gradual drift into growth hell instructed that Zhao’s momentum was struggling in a manner that a lot of her male friends did not must take care of after disapointing reactions to their movies — like Andy Muschietti getting the job to direct The Courageous and the Daring regardless of The Flash bombing.
Setbacks however, Zhao stays busy, and appears poised to kick off a brand new part of her profession. Not solely does she have Hamnet within the pipeline, however she’s additionally at present filming the pilot for the extremely anticipated relaunch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Zhao is likely one of the most fascinating filmmakers working as we speak, and her impressively assorted resume exhibits no person’s fairly doing it like her.
Hamnet
- Launch Date
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November 27, 2025
- Director
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Chloé Zhao