Photo: Courtesy of Screen RantBradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence sure like working together. Of the two films they've appeared in side-by-side — Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle — both did big numbers at the box office, and both earned Cooper and Lawrence Oscar nods. Clearly audiences and critics alike enjoy watching these two together, which brings us to the mystery of Serena.
In between their two David O. Russell collaborations, Cooper and Lawrence shot the depression-era drama, which was directed by the little known, but well respected, art house Danish auteur Susanne Bier (In a Better World). One would think that with Cooper and Lawrence's names on the marquee, Serena would be one of the hottest properties in Hollywood. Strangely, however, that's not the case.
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Despite having been shot two years ago, Serena has yet to find a distributor or a release date stateside. The question now is: Why?
Cinema Blend's take on the mystery is that in the end, Serena might just be a bad movie. "If it were a possible awards contender, it likely would be teasing itself to crowds in Venice, Telluride or Toronto," they write. "The silence on Serena, so far, speaks volumes."
The film — about a woman who slowly descends into madness while defending her family's timber empire — may not sound like the most commercially viable premise, but the presence of Cooper and Lawrence should negate all fears a distributor might have of ending up in the red.
The notion that Bier simply hasn't finished the film (she's a noted perfectionist) is also erroneous, since it's set to be released in the U.K. on October 24.
With such a talented pedigree, hopefully U.S. audiences will get to see the film sooner than later. But, until that happens, let's just watch this on repeat.