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

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

Mounting a risqué novella by William Burroughs, filmmaker Luca Guadagnino finds an expressive way forward for the former James Bond, who finds a new register.

"He’s pushing things. That’s the big attraction," Craig says of director Luca Guadagnino, who adapts William S. Burroughs’s novella to the big screen.

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,

Since exiting the role of James Bond, Daniel Craig has seemed eager to push himself in further directions. He performed “Macbeth” on Broadway.

Still, the salty scent of sweat and the weight of unspoken yearning lingers in the atmosphere, waiting for a wholly committed Daniel Craig to saunter into the frame in a white linen suit to pick up where “Challengers” left off.

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.

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.