The Making of ‘Bugonia’: Yorgos Lanthimos’ First Call? Emma Stone, of Course.

The Making of ‘Bugonia’: Yorgos Lanthimos’ First Call? Emma Stone, of Course

Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos took a fresh approach for his latest film by collaborating with Succession writer Will Tracy to remake a Korean cult classic. Yet his initial step was familiar: reaching out to his frequent muse.

New Directions in Lanthimos’ Career

When Lanthimos first read the script that became Bugonia, he instantly realized he was about to do something unprecedented in his career. For the first time, he would direct a film he hadn’t helped develop and tell a story more clearly grounded in today’s world than his previous, more abstract films.

“Up until this point, I’d read scripts, but I’ve never been so excited immediately afterward that I would say, ‘This is almost ready for me to make just as it is,’” Lanthimos recalls. “To be handed something that was already so great was a tremendous gift.”

Emma Stone’s Immediate Enthusiasm

Minutes after finishing the script, Lanthimos sent it to Emma Stone, who has starred in his last three films. Stone immediately loved it and was surprised by the project's swift momentum.

“I read it that same day, and from then on, we were like, let’s do this,” Stone says. “It was really crazy for me because ever since The Favourite, I’ve seen the projects we’ve done together in very different states of being, where they take years to develop. This was the first time we received a script and were like, ‘Whoa, let’s go make this right away,’ and it basically doesn’t require any process.”

Author's summary: Yorgos Lanthimos embraced a new filmmaking challenge with Bugonia, immediately inspired by a ready script and Emma Stone’s enthusiasm to create without the usual long development process.

The Hollywood Reporter — 2025-11-08