Queer: Daniel Craig to star in Luca Guadagnino-directed adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s novel

Last Updated on December 13, 2022

Life can often bring people in unexpected directions. However, those meanderings can lead to a new outlook, altering how you see the world and the individuals around you. Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria) knows this, and that’s why he’s teaming with Daniel Craig for an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s novel Queer. Inspired by Burrough’s autobiographical work, Queer explores the world-famous author’s romantic side, telling a tale about taboo, dependancy, and unbridled curiosity.

Here is the official synopsis for Burroughs’s Queer novel:

Initially written in 1952 but not published till 1985, Queer is an enigma. Both an unflinching autobiographical self-portrait and a coruscatingly political novel, it is both Burroughs’s only realist love story and a montage of comic-grotesque fantasies that paved the way for his masterpiece, Naked Lunch. Set in Mexico City during the early fifties, Queer follows William Lee, the protagonist of Burroughs’s debut novel Junky, a man afflicted with acute heroin withdrawal and romantic yearnings for Eugene Allerton. As Lee breaks down over the course of his hopeless pursuit of desire from bar to bar in the American expatriate scene, the trademark Burroughsian voice emerges, a maniacal mix of self-lacerating humor and the ugly American at his ugliest.

Guadagnino is known for having many irons in the fire at any time. He’s in the early stages of developing an Audrey Hepburn biopic with Rooney Mara playing the beloved Hollywood icon, though reports indicate the project is still looking for a writer. Guadagnino’s latest feature, Bones and All, has the director reteaming with Timothée Chalamet for an awards-worthy drama about living life on the edge. Oh, and cannibalism. Yummy!

Meanwhile, Craig’s Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, is currently in theaters. The whodunit, directed and written by Rian Johnson, grossed $15 million during its opening week in cinemas. For those unable to make it to a theater, Glass Onion hits Netflix on December 23.

Have you read Burroughs’s Queer? Are you excited to see Craig working alongside Guadagnino for such an explorative story? Let us know in the comments.