Sadly, there are no phantoms in this opera. Designer and filmmaker Tom Ford has finally, officially, announced his third film and it’s an adaptation of the underrated Anne Rice novel Cry to Heaven, according to Deadline.
Don’t worry. We’re not going to be dealing with dueling Vampire Chronicles adaptations because of a new film. AMC’s Immortal Universe still has the witches, vampires, and whatever the Talamasca is up to on lock. This particular Rice novel is simply a work of historical fiction, not gothic horror and/or romance! Ford’s followup to 2016’s Nocturnal Animals and 2009’s A Single Man will adapt the 1983 Rice novel Cry to Heaven.
His all-star cast includes Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Adele. (Yes, that Adele! So cool.) But first, let’s talk about this book and the historical period where we lay our scene.
Cry to Heaven is about castrati in 18th century Italy
The book takes place in 18th century Venice and Naples in the opera world. At the time, it was not unheard of for boy singers to be castrated in order to preserve their soprano range. They would occasionally play female roles in operas. While still common and celebrated in some circles, at the time Cry to Heaven takes place the practice was already starting to become controversial. It would be banned by the opera community and the Catholic church between the mid 19th century and early 20th century.
Rice’s novel follows two main characters: Guido Mafeo, a castrato from a poor family and former opera star who’s now a depressed music teacher; and Tonio Treschi, the son of a nobleman who is forcibly castrated and sent to study with Guido. Tonio is angry and wants revenge. But, twist! He has an incredible singing voice. He finds a home, maybe unexpectedly, in this community while struggling with his own gender expression. As Tonio grows up, he falls in and out of love and becomes a star himself with some prodding from Guido.
The story is almost Dickensian in scope… only Charles Dickens didn’t write about queer singers, did he? At least, not this explicitly. That’s Anne Rice territory.
Ford collaborated with Rice on the project before her death
In an interview with GQ back in 2023, Ford mentioned that he’d been working on this project with Rice (who died in 2021) since 2004. He also referenced The Vampire Chronicles in the same interview. In talking about the need to take breaks and reset as part of his personal creative process, he said: “you know, Anne Rice, in one of her vampire books, wrote that every 150 years, vampires had to dig themselves down into the ground in order to come back up eventually and appreciate life again. That it was all just too much.” He’s clearly both well-versed and a fan of all the beloved author has created.
The cast includes some Ford favorites and an exciting debut
Taylor-Johnson is the only member of the Nocturnal Animals cast to join the new film. But Ford has called upon A Single Man‘s titular lead, Colin Firth, in addition to Hoult. The rest of the cast, while new to Ford’s stylish on-screen vision, is very exciting! First is the afore-mentioned Adele in her feature film, and low-key acting in general, debut. Next we have Ciarán Hinds, George MacKay, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany, and Daryl McCormack.
The women in the cast include Hunter Schafer, Thandiwe Newton, Lux Pascal and German actress Josephine Thiesen. Finally, rounding out the Cry to Heaven cast are young actors Owen Cooper, who starred in the critically acclaimed series Adolesence and won an Emmy for the role, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Theodore Pellerin, Foundation‘s Cassian Bilton, and Hauk Hannemann.
Who among them will be Guido, Tonio, and any of the other characters in this sprawling tale? That remains to be seen. But with this cast and this story from a person like Ford who clearly has a lot to say about art and masculinity, the film already looks pretty promising.
(featured image: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly)
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