The Woman in The Window, an intriguing sort of Rear Window knock off starring Amy Adams and Gary Oldman has been sitting on the shelf for the better part of a year. Originally set to be released in May of 2020, it was pulled from the schedule like so many other films of the year. But while some films got rescheduled, then re-rescheduled, then re-re-rescheduled, before eventually getting a limited theatrical run, VOD release, or just went straight to streaming, Woman in the Window just sat in limbo with no release in sight.
Even weirder still is Disney was making moves with their own films, as well as their 20th Century films they had acquired in the Fox deal. They had released some films originally intended for theatrical release to Hulu, so there was precedent for it to go streaming. You can have high hopes for a film, but I don’t think anyone would anticipate this being a tentpole blockbuster. It would do well in the winter, maybe the fall, but it’s not going to drive crowds. So it just became curiouser and curiouser Disney would sit on it.
Eventually, Netflix entered into talks about distributing the film, but last I heard in August, talks were ongoing. But now, those talks are done, and Netflix will release the psychological thriller this summer. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Joe Wright says “I’m very interested to see how people respond to the film and I can’t wait for its release.”
Reading his words describing the film, it feels like the perfect film to bookend everything 2020 had to throw at us. “What I hope people will take away from this is a sense that our own fears can incarcerate us. And this is a story about a woman who manages to overcome her own fears, and leave them behind her,” says Wright.
The Woman in the Window is directed by Joe Wright, with a screenplay by Tracy Letts, starring Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tracy Letts, Brian Tyree Henry, Wyatt Russell, Fred Hechinger, and Anthony Mackie. It will debut on Netflix later this year, though no official date has been announced.
The Empty Theatre 
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