‘The Father’ Eyes February 2021 Release Date

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Those hoping to catch former Honorary Mayor of Pacific Palisades Anthony Hopkins in his starring role in the upcoming drama film “The Father” will have to wait a few more months: Originally set to release starting December 18 in New York and Los Angeles, the movie is now eyeing a February 2021 United States release.

Co-written and directed by Florian Zeller, the movie is based on his 2012 play, “Le Père”—which translates to the father. The French playwright took home the 2014 Molière Award for Best Play following its September 2012 premiere at the Théâtre Hébertor in Paris.

“A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages,” according to a synopsis on IMDb. “As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.”

The French-British co-production stars Hopkins (Anthony), Olivia Colman (Anne), Mark Gatiss (The Man), Imogen Poots (Laura), Rufus Sewell (Paul) and Olivia Williams (The Woman).

“The Father,” which had a world premiere at Sundance on January 27, has received acclaim from critics, who praised Hopkins and Colman’s performances, as well as the film’s depiction of dementia.

“‘The Father’ does something that few movies about mental deterioration in old age have brought off in quite this way, or this fully,” wrote Owen Gleiberman for Variety. “It places us in the mind of someone losing his mind—and it does so by revealing that mind to be a place of seemingly rational and coherent experience.”

The film is written by Zeller and Christopher Hampton, as well as produced by David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi, Philippe Carcassonne, Christophe Spadone and Simon Friend.

Prior to its premiere, Sony Pictures Classic and Lionsgate acquired the U.S. and U.K. distribution rights to the film, respectively.

“The Father,” which has been rated PG-13 for some strong language and thematic material, is now slated for a January 8, 2021, release in the United Kingdom, followed by a February 26, 2021, release in the U.S.