Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool is a 2017 biographical romantic drama film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Annette Bening and Jamie Bell, with a cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave and Julie Walters. It is based on the memoir of the same name by Peter Turner, which tells of his relationship with aging Academy Award-winning American actress Gloria Grahame in 1970s Liverpool and, some years later, her death from breast cancer.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on 1 September 2017. It was released in the United Kingdom on 16 November by Lionsgate and in the United States on 29 December by Sony Pictures Classics. At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, the it received three nominations: Best Actress (Bening), Best Actor (Bell) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Synopsis
The film presents Gloria Grahame in two time periods: During an affair with Peter Turner and during a production of The Glass Menagerie in the role of Amanda.

Cast

 * Annette Bening as Gloria Grahame
 * Jamie Bell as Peter Turner
 * Vanessa Redgrave as Jeanne McDougall
 * Julie Walters as Bella Turner
 * Kenneth Cranham as Joe Turner
 * Stephen Graham as Joe Turner Jr.
 * Frances Barber as Joy
 * Leanne Best as Eileen
 * Suzanne Bertish as Fifi Oscard
 * Tom Brittney as Tim

Production
On 6 May 2016, it was reported that Annette Bening, Jamie Bell, and Julie Walters would star in an adaptation of Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool by Peter Turner, a memoir about Turner's relationship with actress Gloria Grahame in the last years of her life. Paul McGuigan would direct from a script written by Matt Greenhalgh, and Barbara Broccoli and Colin Vaines would produce. On 27 June 2016, Vanessa Redgrave joined the cast.

On 27 June 2016, the film began filming in Liverpool and London. It then moved to Pinewood Studios, where it wrapped on 8 August 2016. To fill in for scenes set in New York City and Malibu, California, the crew used rear-screen projections. On 11 November 2017, Elvis Costello released an original song entitled "You Shouldn't Look at Me That Way", composed specifically for the film.

Release
In August 2017, Sony Pictures Classics acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on 1 September 2017. It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2017.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on 16 November 2017 by Lionsgate. and in the United States on 29 December 2017.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 146 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool showcases brilliant work from Annette Bening, whose performance is more than enough to outweigh this biopic's basic narrative." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film has a normalised score of 65 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". However, the film was a box office flop that only generated $3.4 million out of its $10 million dollar budget.