Maria Callas was a star of the stage, one of the most influential and legendary opera singers of the 20th century. Now she is going to be a star of the screen, portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the new biopic simply titled Maria.
Maria hails from director Pablo Larraín, who has previously brought two other iconic women of the 20th century to the screen: former first lady Jackie Onasis in Jackie and Princess Diana in Spencer. Both of those movies earned Best Actress nominations for their leading ladies (Natalie Portman in Jackie and Kristen Stewart in Spencer), and Jolie could very well be in contention for a similar achievement, as it is one of many movies in contention for possible Oscar nominations this year.
Find out more about Maria right here, as we go over all the key details for the movie that you need to know.
Maria release date
The Maria release date has been announced: the biopic will release exclusively in movie theaters on November 27 before it then becomes available to stream exclusively on Netflix on December 11.
This officially puts Maria on the slate of 2024 new movies as expected following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Maria cast
As mentioned, starring in Maria is Angelina Jolie, with the Oscar winner playing the iconic opera singer. This is actually the first movie that Jolie has starred in since 2021, specifically the MCU movie Eternals. She is of course best known for Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Girl, Interrupted, the latter of which earned her the Oscar (Best Supporting Actress).
Joining Jolie in the Maria cast are Pierfrancesco Favino (Angels & Demons), Alba Rohrwacher (My Brilliant Friend), Haluk Bilginer (Persona), Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog), Stephen Ashfield (The Devil's Hour) and Valeria Golino (The Beautiful Game).
Maria plot
Steven Knight, who previously worked with Larraín on Spencer, wrote the script for Maria. Here is the official synopsis:
"Maria tells the tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world's greatest female opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris."
Maria trailer
Netflix has released trailesr for Maria, previewing Jolie's acclaimed performance. Check them out right here:
You can also watch this official clip from the movie:
Pablo Larraín movies
Originally from Chile, Larraín has made himself known across the world with his movies. Here is a look at his directing credits to date:
- Fuga (2006)
- Tony Manero (2008)
- Post Mortem (2010)
- No (2012)
- The Club (2015)
- Neruda (2016)
- Jackie (2016)
- Ema (2019)
- Spencer (2021)
- El Conde (2023)