Sony Pictures Classics Nabs Pedro Almodóvar’s LGBTQ Western ‘Strange Way of Life’

Sony Pictures Classics has picked Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life, an LGBTQ-themed Western starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, before its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The speciality distributor acquired the worldwide rights, excluding the U.K., France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Latin America. The short — which sees The Northman star Hawke and The Last of Us‘ actor Pascal appear as two middle-aged gunslingers with a deep connection and who meet up again after a 25-year separation — is Almodóvar’s second English-language short, after Tilda Swinton-starrer The Human Voice, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020 and was also distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

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A fall 2023 release is planned for Strange Way of Life, which is produced by Almodóvar’s El Deseo and is a collaboration with French fashion house Saint Laurent and its creative director Anthony Vaccarello. The short also stars Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández and Sara Sálamo.

Strange Way of Life is produced by Agustín Almodóvar, with Esther García as executive producer and Bárbara Peiró, Diego Pajuelo and Vaccarello serving as associate producers.

Almodóvar gave additional details on the short film in his director’s statement: “A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their old friendship.”

Sony Pictures Classics also released the Spanish director’s film Parallel Mothers.

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