The Bell Jar

A young woman's summer in New York includes working for a Mademoiselle-like magazine, her return home to New England, and subsequent breakdown all amidst the horrors of the 1950s, from news of the Rosenbergs' execution to sleazy disc jockeys and predatory college boys.

Genres
Drama
Director
Sarah Polley

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar is an upcoming psychological drama film directed by Sarah Polley, who adapted it from the 1963 novel by Sylvia Plath.

Production

In July 2016, it was announced that Kirsten Dunst would make her directorial debut with a new film adaptation of The Bell Jar — the first since the 1970s — also co-writing the screenplay with Nellie Kim; Dakota Fanning would star. In October 2016, Jesse Plemons joined the cast. In November 2016, Patricia Arquette and Bel Powley joined the cast. However, the project failed to materialize with Dunst explaining in 2019: "I never had the rights.

Years later, in March 2026, it was announced that Focus Features had acquired the rights with Sarah Polley writing and directing the adaptation; Billie Eilish would star. Filming began on June 29, 2026, in Toronto, Canada and was scheduled to film until September 2. In July 2026, Carey Mulligan was announced as part of the cast, and Ella Beatty was in final talks to join. Connor Storrie was cast in August.

On August 3, set pictures of Eilish as Esther Greenwood were released, showing her in 1950s-style costumes and hairstyles on the set of the movie in Toronto. On September 8, production was confirmed to have wrapped.

On October 13, Variety revealed that the musical score would be composed by Hildur Gudnadottir, who also praised Eilish, saying that “working with a fellow Oscar-winning musician like Eilish makes a huge difference” and that she understands the process that goes into writing music, so what you write can really resonate with her.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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