CYRANO’s Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett & Kelvin Harrison Jr. dazzle in London

by Screenmancer Staff

What would French poet and playwright Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (1868 – 1918), better known simply as Edmond Rostand, think of his 1897 creation “Cyrano de Bergerac” in the hands of filmmaker Joe Wright?

If he’d seen Wright’s screen rendition of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” no doubt Rostand would have applauded the director and titular star Peter Dinklage from HBO’s smash hit series “Game of Thrones” down the red carpet at the London premiere shown here in all its glory. 

But Rostand’s approval won is not all the intricacy in this lover’s knot movie starring Dinklage, as Joe Wright’s real life partner Haley Bennett plays Roxanne and playwright/screenwriter Erica Schmidt is in fact Peter’s real life wife.

Back in 2019, Schmidt came up with her own version the Cyrano character and directed a musical adaptation for The New Group, an Off-Broadway production company. 

Now CYRANO reimagined is dazzling in yet another dimension on the screen as this de Bergerac plays the lover’s mouthpiece for Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s Christian, and yet he breathes his own passionate soul through the puppeteering act of ultimate kindness.

Here they are in London, living large with an outsized story about love, belonging, and the disruption that comes when we pledge our heart by proxy. 

Cast: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn

Directed by: Joe Wright

Screenplay by: Erica Schmidt

Based on: The stage musical adapted and directed by Erica Schmidt, from “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand, with music by Aaron & Bryce Dessner and lyrics by Matt Berninger & Carin Besser

Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Guy Heeley

Executive Producers: Erica Schmidt, Sarah-Jane Robinson, Sheeraz Shah, Lucas Webb, Matt Berninger, Carin Besser, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Kevin Ulrich, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Cloth

Music by: Bryce Dessner & Aaron Dessner

“A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures presents, in association with BRON Creative, A, Working Title Production, A Joe Wright Film,” as the titling process announces, CYRANO will have an exclusive theatrical run on Dec. 17, then a selected release in theaters Jan. 21, but you can follow the story on social media with the links and official hashtag included.

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