Pedro Almodóvar withdraws from his first English-language feature film 'A Manual for Cleaning Women'
Pedro Almodóvar said the decision to exit the project has been "very painful" for him.
Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker has decided not to go forward with what could have been his first English-language film, 'A Manual for Cleaning Women'. Produced by and starring Cate Blanchett, the film was an adaptation of the short story collection of the same name by American author Lucia Berlin. The project was being bankrolled by Blanchett's production company Dirty Films.
Pedro Almodóvar told Deadline, “It has been a very painful decision for me I have dreamt of working with Cate for such a long time. Dirty Films has been so generous with me this whole time and I was blinded by excitement, but unfortunately, I no longer feel able to fully realize this film.”
Almodóvar's brother and business partner Agustin Almodóvar said that the project will continue at Dirty Films with a new director, which has not been announced yet.
For those looking for an Almodóvar movie in the English language: he may not have directed a feature film in English, but he has helmed a short film in the language. It is called 'The Human Voice', which was released in 2020 and featured Tilda Swinton.
Almodóvar is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers on the planet right now. For his films, he has won two Oscars, five Baftas, two Golden Globes, and more.
His last film, 2021's 'Madres paralelas' or 'Parallel Mothers', starred his regular collaborator Penélope Cruz. The film received extremely positive reviews (with 96 per cent on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes) and also earned two Oscar nominations.