Rosebush Pruning Opens Friday and Lost Its Stars First

By The Backlot

@backlotfriends

Two characters lounge in a dark velvet room, one sprawled upside down with white boots, in Rosebush Pruning (2026)

Rosebush Pruning opens Friday. Karim Aïnouz announced it at Cannes in 2023 with Kristen Stewart and Josh O'Connor in the leads. Both dropped out in September 2024, on the same day, right as cameras were starting in Spain. Stewart had her own film to direct. O'Connor had two other projects.

Riley Keough and Callum Turner stepped in. Elle Fanning stayed.

The script is by Efthimis Filippou, who wrote The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer with Yorgos Lanthimos. The film is a dark satire about American siblings wasting away in a Spanish villa on inherited money. Aïnouz had never made a satire before. Filippou convinced him.

If you liked The Lobster, this is your Friday. It opens on limited screens via MUBI.

Quick Facts

Rosebush Pruning Opens Friday and Lost Its Stars First

DirectorKarim Aïnouz

CastCallum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Lukas Gage, Elena Anaya

GenreComedy, Drama, Thriller

Release2026-07-24

Runtime95 min

RatedN/A

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Kristen Stewart and Josh O'Connor were cast. Then both dropped out the same day. Rosebush Pruning opens Friday. #RosebushPruning #Backlot

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Stewart and O'Connor both dropped out of Rosebush Pruning the same day. Keough and Turner stepped in. Opens Friday via MUBI. #RosebushPruning #Backlot

Riley Keough and Callum Turner stepped in. Elle Fanning stayed.

If you liked The Lobster, this is your Friday. It opens on limited screens via MUBI.