Lee (2023 film)

Lee is a 2023 British biographical drama film directed by Ellen Kuras in her feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Liz Hannah, John Collee and Marion Hume, and story from Hume, Collee and Lem Dobbs, adapted from the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose. It stars Kate Winslet as war journalist Lee Miller. The cast includes Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, Josh O'Connor, and Alexander Skarsgård in supporting roles.

The movie took eight years to make and, at one point, due to precarious funding, Kate Winslet (who also produced the movie) paid the entire cast and crew's salaries for two weeks. The film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023. It will be released theatrically in the United Kingdom by Sky Cinema on 13 September 2024.

Premise
Lee Miller goes from a career as a model to enlisting as a photographer to chronicle the events of World War II for Vogue magazine.

Development
The origin of the project began when cinematographer Ellen Kuras was at a bookstore in New York and spotted a tome about war photographer Lee Miller. Kuras noticed a similarity between Miller and actress Kate Winslet–with whom she had worked in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)–and sent Winslet a copy of the book and kept another copy for herself. Years later, Winslet started developing a movie project about Miller and asked Kuras whether she would like to direct it.

The project was officially announced in October 2015, with Winslet attached to star as Miller. In June 2020, cinematographer Ellen Kuras was set to direct the film–her feature directorial debut, with Liz Hannah adapting the screenplay from the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller, written by Miller's son, Antony Penrose, who supported the film and gave Kuras full access to his mother's personal archives, diaries, and even her unpublished work. The screenplay went through several rewrites. It was originally written by John Collee and Marion Hume from a story they developed together with Lem Dobbs, with Liz Hannah joining on later. Winslet also served as a producer on the film. She chose the screenwriters and was also in charge of finances and casting, even personally calling her co-stars.

The most significant development in the film came in October 2021, when Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Andrea Riseborough and Josh O'Connor joined the cast, with a crew including Alexandre Desplat as a composer, Michael O'Connor as costume designer, cinematographer Paweł Edelman and Ivana Primorac as head makeup and hair artist. In February 2022, Andy Samberg was announced as being part of the cast. He would be confirmed in October 2022 alongside additional castings including Alexander Skarsgård, who replaced Law in the role of Roland Penrose. Winslet wrote a letter to Cotillard asking her to play French Vogue editor Solange d'Ayen in the film. Winslet and Cotillard had previously co-starred in Contagion (2011).

Winslet said she was patronized by male executives when she was trying to get funding for the film. "The men who think you want and need their help are unbelievably outraging. I've even had a director say to me: 'Listen, you do my film and I'll get your little Lee funded...' Little! Or we'd have potential male investors saying things like: Tell me, why am I supposed to like this woman?", Winslet told Vogue. During pre-production, Winslet covered two weeks of wages with her own money due to insufficient funds.

Filming
Filming began in late September 2022 in Croatia. Production paused for a short period that month when Winslet slipped during filming and was taken to the hospital. The accident happened on the first day of shooting, when Winslet slipped and injured her back while she was rehearsing a sequence where Lee Miller was running down the street in Saint-Malo under bombardment. Winslet decided to keep filming despite her back injury and barely being able to stand up.

Filming also took place in Hungary and wrapped in early December 2022.

Release
Lee had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023. It is set to be released theatrically by Sky Cinema in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 13 September 2024. In February 2024, Roadside Attractions and Vertical acquired US distribution rights to the film, originally scheduling the film for a theatrical release on 20 September 2024. The film's release would subsequently be delayed by a week to 27 September.