MOVIE NEWS – Daniel Craig, the last James Bond, will star in Queer, a gay love story based on the novel by William S. Burroughs.

A24 has released the second trailer for Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novel of the same name, in which Daniel Craig plays William Lee – a lonely heroin addict living in Mexico City who begins a torrid affair with a younger man, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Craig received rave reviews for his performance in the film, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2024.

The trailer, shown at the bottom of the article, features several shots of Lee and Allerton exchanging longing glances as their relationship grows more intimate.

Viewers also get a few minutes of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ lush, sweeping score—all synths and piano, with a kind of brooding tone that suggests the romance at the heart of the film may not be as serene as some of the images suggest. Reznor and Ross, of course, have worked with Guadagnino before, scoring Bones and All and Challengers.

Another returning guest is playwright and novelist Justin Kuritzkes, who wrote Challengers and adapted Queer for the screen. In an interview with Slant, Kuritzkes shared his thoughts on the adaptation process and how he and Guadagnino saw the challenges of bringing Burroughs’ story to the big screen. He stated:

“One of the things that Luca has said about the movie, which I think is really beautiful, is that it’s not a story of unrequited love so much as it’s a one of unsynchronized love. I see the movie as much as the two of them trying to get in sync, the sort of terror of actually being in sync, their reaction to that, and what that does to each of them. It’s terrifying to get what you want. That was my guiding principle as I was working through writing the movie.”

Daniel Craig wouldn’t have made Queer 10 years ago

Daniel Craig admits that 10 years ago, when he was still playing James Bond, he could not have made a film like Queer. “I wouldn’t have done it,” he told the New York Times. “I was so wrapped up in Bond and what that was, I would have been terrified of doing something like this… Especially early on with Bond, I was like, ‘This is enough. Stay in my lane.'”

One of the main reasons the film couldn’t have been made with Craig a decade ago is the explicit sex scenes, by Hollywood standards.

It’s certainly a bold move for the actor. Although perhaps not as bold as one might think, given his career before Bond and the Trapped franchise, where he was known for playing darker characters that were more like Lee than 007 or Benoit Blanc.

As for the sex scenes, Craig said at the Venice Film Festival press conference (via IndieWire):

“You know as far as I do: There’s nothing intimate about filming a sex scene on a movie set. You’re in a room full of people watching you. We just wanted to make it as touching and as real, as natural, as we possibly could. Drew was a wonderful, beautiful, fantastic actor to work with, and we had a laugh. We tried to make it fun.”

Source: Slant, The New York Times, IndieWire, YouTube