The Favourite has had a huge opening weekend at the US Box-Office with a stunning $105,500 per theatre average, the highest of any film since La La Land two years ago. Starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, it marks the third collaboration between visionary Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos and Dublin based Element Pictures following their award-winning films The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
The stellar Thanksgiving weekend opening for The Favourite comes on the back of rave reviews from US press including The New York Times (‘wildly entertaining’), USA Today (‘an abundantly entertaining gem’), The Los Angeles Times (‘a devious delight’), The Wall Street Journal (‘sizzling hot’) and Rolling Stone (‘a bawdy, brilliant triumph’).
The Favourite, released worldwide by Fox Searchlight, currently has a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes and is being tipped for Oscars.
The female driven period piece is set at the court of Queen Anne (Colman), is directed by Lanthimos, written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara and is produced by Ed Guiney and executive produced by Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures. Other producers include Ceci Dempsey, Lee Magiday and Lanthimos. The film is an Element Pictures/Scarlet Films production for Fox Searchlight, Film4 and Waypoint.
The film was shot by Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan and partly post produced in Dublin. It will be released in Ireland in January 2019. Element’s previous productions include the Oscar winning Room and The Guard.