Luca Guadagnino talks to IndieWire about his William S. Burroughs adaptation 'Queer,' starring Daniel Craig, in a wide-ranging interview.

The director detailed his ambitions around the William S. Burroughs novella while the actor known for playing James Bond praised the daring script.

I know the story of Queer well — the book itself, the circumstances of it being written, and the mythology that preceded the publication of it, the “lost” William Burroughs manuscript. And so I was truly dreading seeing Luca Guadagnino’s $53 million Queer,

But beyond the scandalous nature of the scene, working with Guadagnino was a personal milestone for Apollo. “Luca’s always been a huge inspiration,” the singer tells Them. “I’ve been watching his films for so long. I was in Indiana, like, ‘Oh, one day it’d be crazy if I did a film with him.’ So it was cool that that was my first one.”

And perhaps it was for this reason that Guadagnino included a direct reference to a titular scene from the film Queer, referencing the moment as Orphée enters the underworld for the first time, with his arms outstretched as he walks through the liquid-like mirror that acts as a gateway to hell.

The context of Burroughs writing “Queer” is unspeakably tragic, and Guadagnino refers to it without making the film a biopic; he is more concerned with the character’s state of mind, which is troubled, addled from drugs and booze, and driven almost mad with yearning.

A new trailer for Luca Guadagnino’s Queer has been released. Queer is an upcoming A24 film directed by Guadagnino that stars Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey. The film will open in select United States theaters in the coming days before expanding nationwide next month.

Luca Guadagnino entered 2024 in a massive way with Challengers, and he’s set to close the year with one of his most explosive films yet. Queer is already making a splash at film festivals and with critics,