Kiss of the Spider Woman premieres at Sundance this Sunday, January 26 and a first look was revealed via Vanity Fair. The film stars Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, and Tonatiuh. Bill Condon wrote and directed. The film is produced through Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s studio, Artists Equity.
The musical is an adaptation of a book by the same name which centers on a pair of cellmates in an Argentine prison. Valentin (Luna) is a political revolutionary while Molina (Tonatiuh) is a gay window dresser who takes care of him by telling him the stories of his favorite films, many of which star Aurora (JLo), his favorite movie star. But the one story he fears telling is Aurora’s greatest role: The Spider Woman. The novel was adapted into a stage play in 1983 and then an Academy-Award winning film in 1985. Then it was adapted into a Tony-winning stage musical.
This musical film allegedly clocks in at 128 minutes, and Condon reportedly cut several songs from the track list so as to avoid characters “simply breaking out into song”. The film within a film sequences were shot separately from the prison scenes and will include a “heated and romantic” reimagining of Valentin and Molina’s relationship.
