''Cyrano'' is a 2021

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film directed by

Joe Wright Joseph Wright (born 25 August 1972) is an English film director residing in Somerset, England. His motion pictures include the literary adaptations '' Pride & Prejudice'' (2005), ''Atonement'' (2007), ''Anna Karenina'' (2012), and ''Cyrano'' ( ...

and with a screenplay by Erica Schmidt, based on Schmidt's 2018 stage musical of the same name, itself based on the 1897

Edmond Rostand Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with t ...

play ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

''. The film stars

Peter Dinklage Peter Hayden Dinklage (; born June 11, 1969) is an American film, television and stage actor. He received international recognition for portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which he wo ...

Haley Bennett Haley Loraine Keeling (born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Haley Bennett, is an American actress. She made her film debut in the romantic comedy '' Music and Lyrics'' (2007) and has since appeared in films such as '' The Equalizer'' ( ...

Kelvin Harrison Jr. Kelvin Harrison Jr. (born July 23, 1994) is an American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a Screen Actors Guild Award and nominations for a British Academy Film Award, Gotham Award, an Independent Spirit Award. He began his caree ...

, and

Ben Mendelsohn Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn (born 3 April 1969) is an Australian actor. He first rose to prominence in Australia for his breakout role in ''The Year My Voice Broke'' (1987) and since then he has had roles in films such as '' Animal Kingdom'' (2010) ...

. ''Cyrano'' had its world premiere at the

48th Telluride Film Festival The 48th Telluride Film Festival took place on September 2–6, 2021 in Telluride, Colorado, United States. After the cancellation of the previous year's event due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Colorado, the festival required proof of vaccination ...

on 2 September 2021, had a one-week theatrical run in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on 17 December 2021, and was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on 25 February 2022. This is MGM's last picture released before the acquisition of the studio by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

. The film was a

box office disappointment A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing $6.4 million on a $30 million budget. However, it received generally positive reviews, with critics praising Dinklage's and Bennett's performances and the soundtrack. It was nominated for several awards, including a Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Dinklage) at the

79th Golden Globe Awards The 79th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2021, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The ceremony took place privately on January 9, 2022. The nominees were announced on December 1 ...

, four nominations at the

75th British Academy Film Awards The 75th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFAs (or BAFTAs), were held on 13 March 2022 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2021. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Televi ...

and a Best Costume Design nod at the

94th Academy Awards The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after its u ...

Plot

Beautiful but penniless orphan Roxanne goes to the theater with the foppish Duke De Guiche, who is in love with her and determined to marry her. Roxanne states her desire to marry for love and while taking her seat, she and newly recruited soldier Christian de Neuvillette see each other and are instantly infatuated with one another. As the play begins, Roxanne's childhood friend, the dwarven Cyrano de Bergerac, objects to the lead actor and chases him off the stage with rhyming insults, then duels a man who calls him a freak for his condition. Roxanne meets privately with Cyrano, who she fails to realize is desperately in love with her. She tells him she has fallen in love with Christian at first sight and asks him to arrange a meeting. Though heartbroken, Cyrano meets Christian and discovers he is inarticulate and incapable of expressing his feelings. Not wanting to disappoint Roxanne, he writes countless letters expressing his own deep feelings of love for her, which Christian delivers as his own writing. When Christian and Roxanne finally meet in person, he is unable to match the power of Cyrano's words, which caused her to fall in love with Christian, and he inadvertently insults her. Roxanne declares she needs more than simple platitudes and storms off. Later, Cyrano helps Christian make amends by hiding in the shadows and whispering what to say to Roxanne. She forgives him as a letter from De Guiche arrives with a priest, declaring that he is coming to either marry her or have his way with her. Roxanne and Christian hastily marry and De Guiche, infuriated, arranges for Christian and Cyrano's unit to be sent to the front. While at war, Cyrano sends Roxanne a letter from Christian every day and risks his own life to keep Christian alive for Roxanne. De Guiche eventually sends their unit on a suicide mission, and Cyrano reveals he has already written a final letter to Roxanne. Christian sees the letter is stained with tears and realizes Cyrano loves Roxanne, and that the man Roxanne really loves is Cyrano. He asks Cyrano to tell Roxanne everything. He then runs out to meet the enemy's guns and is killed. Three years later, Cyrano is impoverished and in ill health from war wounds that never fully healed. Roxanne remains his close friend. Sensing he is about to die, Cyrano meets with Roxanne and asks for Christian's final letter. He recites it from memory, revealing that all of Christian's letters were from him, and Roxanne declares her love for Cyrano before he dies peacefully.

Cast

as Roxanne *

as Christian de Neuvillette *

as De Guiche *

Monica Dolan Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in ''Appropriate Adult'' (2011). Career Dolan was born in Middlesbrough and trained at the Guildh ...

as Marie, Roxanne's attendant *

Bashir Salahuddin Bashir Salahuddin (born July 6, 1976) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. Early life and education Salahuddin was born and raised in the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. His father is originally from Panama and had moved to Chicago with ...

as Le Bret * Joshua James as Valvert *

Anjana Vasan Anjana Vasan (born 31 January 1987) is a Singaporean actress and singer-songwriter based in London. She gained prominence through her stage work, receiving an ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Award nomination for her performance in the 2019 producti ...

as Sister Claire *

Ruth Sheen Ruth Sheen is an English actress. From the late 1980s, she has appeared in British television shows, films and plays. A participant in the films of Mike Leigh, she won the European Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Shirley in Leigh ...

as Mother Marthe *

Glen Hansard Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten ...

Sam Amidon Samuel Tear Amidon (born June 3, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Musical career In 2001, Amidon self-released ''Solo Fiddle'', an album of traditional Irish fiddle instrumentals. Amidon's first album of ...

, and Scott Folan appear as a singing trio of guards, credited respectively as guard #1, guard #2, and guard #3. *

Mark Benton Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in ''Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'' and Martin Pond in '' Barbara''. Benton has also starred in the BBC One school-based ...

as Montfleury *

Richard McCabe Richard McCabe (born William McCabe; 18 August 1960) is a Scottish actor who has specialised in classical theatre. He is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Career McCabe is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare ...

as Priest * Peter Wight as Ragueneau * Tim McMullan as Jodelet * Mark Bagnall as stranger * Mike Shepherd as Marquis * Paul Biddiss as the gate keeper * Katy Owen as the thief

Production

It was announced in August 2020 that

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

had acquired the rights to the film, which was written by Erica Schmidt, based on her stage musical ''Cyrano''. The film was produced by

Working Title Films Working Title Films is a British film studio that produces motion pictures and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by Tim Bev ...

, and

was set to direct.

and

will reprise their roles from the stage musical, with

and

Brian Tyree Henry Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outsta ...

also cast.

joined the cast in September 2020.

later joined the cast to replace Henry. Music for the film was written by members of the National, who also wrote the music and lyrics for the stage musical.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

(

Noto Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and i ...

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

Scicli Scicli is a town and municipality in the Province of Ragusa in the south east of Sicily, southern Italy. It is from Ragusa, and from Palermo, and has a population (2017) of 27,051. Alongside seven other cities in the Val di Noto, it has been li ...

) in October 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Italy The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2020, when t ...

. All of the vocal performances for the musical numbers were recorded live on set.

Music

The film's opening number, "Someone To Say," was released as a single on October 8, 2021, followed by "Somebody Desperate" on December 3, 2021. The latter song was written exclusively for the film and plays during the end credits. The soundtrack was released on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

on December 10, 2021.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, th ...

on September 2, 2021. By the end of its festival run, it screened at

the Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of ...

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census. Mill Valley is located on the western and ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

. The film was widely theatrically released in the United States and the United Kingdom on February 25, 2022. The film was originally scheduled for a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States on December 25, 2021, but the release date was then moved to December 31. In November 2021, the film's release plans were changed by

United Artists Releasing United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studio ...

in an effort to better position itself for

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

qualification and contention: it had an exclusive one-week theatrical run in

on December 17, prior to a planned limited theatrical release on January 21, 2022, before expanding in subsequent weeks. The release date in the US was shifted to a limited release on January 28, before opening wide on February 11. It was shifted again to a solely wide release on February 25, without a limited release, on the same date as its release in the UK. The UK release was originally scheduled for release on January 14, but was postponed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

response. The film was released on streaming on March 9, 2022, and on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

on April 19, 2022, by

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

. It is also the last MGM title to be released before the studio was acquired by

on March 17, 2022.

Reception

Box office

''Cyrano'' grossed $3.9million in the United States and Canada, and $2.5million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $6.4million. In the United States and Canada, ''Cyrano'' was released alongside ''

Studio 666 ''Studio 666'' is a 2022 American horror comedy film directed by BJ McDonnell from a screenplay by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, based on a story by Dave Grohl. Grohl stars, alongside his Foo Fighters bandmates Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Taylor Ha ...

'', and was projected to gross $2–5 million from 797 theaters in its opening weekend. The film earned $1.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing ninth at the box office. It made $678,783 in its second weekend, finishing eighth. The film dropped out of the box office top ten in its third weekend, finishing eleventh with $398,932. Outside the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $1.04 million from 10 international markets in its opening weekend.

Critical response

Accolades

References

External links

* * *
Official screenplay
{{The National 2021 romantic drama films 2020s American films 2020s British films 2020s Canadian films 2020s English-language films 2020s musical drama films 2020s romantic musical films American musical drama films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films British musical drama films British romantic drama films British romantic musical films Bron Studios films Canadian musical drama films Canadian romantic drama films Canadian romantic musical films Films based on adaptations Films based on Cyrano de Bergerac (play) Films based on musicals Films directed by Joe Wright Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Films produced by Tim Bevan Films produced by Eric Fellner Films shot in Sicily Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Universal Pictures films Working Title Films films