Sofia Coppola Follows Up ‘The Beguiled’ With An Opera Adaptation

Sofia Coppola made history this weekend when she became the first woman in 56 years, and only the second woman in history, to win Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. She took home the honor for the highly-acclaimed upcoming film The Beguiled. And now, she’s following up the project with her opera debut.

With the help of fashion house Valentino, Coppola is bringing Giuseppe Verdi’s "La Traviata" to the big screen, which we can see in action by way of the first trailer. It’s an interesting project for the director, who has helmed a range of films from The Bling Ring and Lost In Translation to the period piece Marie Antoinette. Like most opera performances, it appears to be grand, opulent, and visually stunning. 

Speaking of visuals, it appears like the costumes might be their own separate characters. The stunning black-and-teal gown you see worn by lead character Violetta in the trailer’s opening scenes reportedly took the designer 800 hours to make, according to The New York Times. “We sought to create a big picture as though it were a painting,” Pierpaolo Piccoli, creative director of Maison Valentino told the publication. “Because in the end what is impressive about opera is the grandiosity of the stage, so we wanted to dress all these people on the stage as if they [are] part of one whole.”

No word on when the film will land in the U.S., but it hits theaters in the U.K. July 9. Hopefully those stateside can experience an escapist night at the opera courtesy of Coppola and Valentino very soon after.