Todd Haynes brings first tease of Pedro Pascal film De Noche to Lyon
Todd Haynes has finished shooting De Noche, his new film with Pedro Pascal, and gave Lyon the first tease.
The US director spoke at the opening gala of France's Lumière Festival, a nine-day celebration of classic and restored cinema centred on Lyon, where he is a guest of honour this year, according to Variety. Filming is complete. A release date has yet to be announced.
De Noche stars Pascal alongside Danny Ramirez. The project was revived after Joaquin Phoenix left it in 2024. Haynes said it is set in 1938 and will most likely be R-rated, the US classification that bars under-17s without an adult.
It was Haynes who introduced the opening-night film. He chose Ettore Scola's A Special Day, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The choice fits his own visit, which centres on a masterclass and a retrospective including Poison, Safe, Far from Heaven and I'm Not There.
The room was full of film-makers. Zhang Ziyi, Daniel Brühl, Tsui Hark and Andrey Zvyagintsev attended the gala, along with Fatih Akin and Abel Ferrara. Zhang is in Lyon to introduce the first French screening of a 4K restoration of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from 2000.
What makes this stand out is the mix. Lyon pairs new work with old prints, so a tease for an unreleased film sits beside restored classics and career tributes.
Festival chief Thierry Frémaux, who also heads the Cannes Festival, opened the night with a joke about US President Donald Trump. He said Trump had protested not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, and added that the festival will not give Trump the Lumière Award, its career honour.
That award goes elsewhere. Joel and Ethan Coen will accept the 2026 Lumière Award on Oct. 16.
For fans, this means a busy nine days. This year's edition lists 163 films and more than 400 screenings in and around Lyon. Retrospectives include programmes dedicated to Scola and Norman Jewison, while the closing screening is listed as the Coens' The Big Lebowski, according to the festival site.
Other 2026 guests listed by the festival include Agnès Jaoui, Nadine Labaki, Robert Eggers and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. Frances McDormand had earlier been announced as a participant, according to Variety, which also described this as Haynes's first visit to Lyon.
