After giving us the Penélope Cruz‘s Academy Award-nominated performance in “Parallel Mothers,” Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is looking to make an adaptation of “A Manual For Cleaning Women“ starring Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley“). The drama is expected to focus on the struggles of multiple working women and will be Almodóvar’s first English-language feature film. However, before cameras roll on that project, the Oscar-winning screenwriter is now looking to make another short film in a genre that should get folks excited.
Todo Almodovar (via The Film Stage) says the director will shoot a western short called “Extraña forma de vida,” aka, “Strange Way of Life” that will have a runtime of 30 minutes. Details are scarce on the project but two actors have already been cast and the film is said to be inspired by a song from Portuguese singer Amália Rodrigues.
Perhaps this is a new tradition for Almodóvar? The filmmaker shot the short “The Human Voice” with Tilda Swinton in 2020 before launching into production on “Parallel Mothers,” and maybe this is a way to keep those muscles in shape.
In 2020, Almodóvar talked to the press during the Venice Film Festival (via The Guardian) and said that he had written a cowboy film that would be “a different kind of western, which will be very colorful…very theatrical.” A great tease for the time being.
The western short will shoot in Almería, Spain, a well-known filming location that was previously used for Sergio Leone‘s iconic “Dollars” trilogy starring Clint Eastwood, and his spaghetti western masterpiece “Once Upon A Time In The West.” It’s a perfect setting for any Western and the director has used the visually stunning locale for other films.
No word on the casting as of yet, but a dream scenario would be Javier Bardem or Antonio Banderas in a nice reunion with Almodóvar. In fact, while Bardem’s wife Penelope Cruz works with Almodóvar constantly, Bardem hasn’t appeared in one of his films since 1997’s “Live Flesh,” so they’re overdue. Dare to dream?