Daniel Craig’s sex scenes in Queer will be ‘quite full on’ – which is absolutely fine with us

Daniel Craig is set to get stuck into gay sex scenes in his latest role, and apparently they’re set to be “quite full on”. We’re certainly not complaining.

Challengers director Luca Guadagnino’s new film is a heady drama which will see Craig play a queer character in a “direct and brave way”.

Queer is set to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which takes place from 28 August to 7 September. 

Festival director Alberto Barbera was asked by Deadline what he meant when he said Craig really “put himself on the line” with his performance.

“In terms of him portraying a gay man in a very direct and brave way, including a couple of sex scenes that are quite full-on, he replied. “I think it’s the performance of his life so far.”

This isn’t the first time Bond star Daniel Craig has played a queer character. In Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Craig plays detective Benoit Blanc, who is canonically gay and has a husband, played by Hugh Grant.

Speaking about the role, Love, Actually star Grant said: “It is true, I’m married to James Bond. It’s the tiniest little moment. I don’t really know why they wanted to do it but I thought, why not?”

Filming has begun on Wake Up Dead Man, the third Knives Out movie which also features Fleabag star Andrew Scott, God’s Own Country‘s Josh O’Connor and Priscilla‘s Cailee Spaeny. It is set for release in 2025.

The hype for Queer has only been mounting in recent weeks as small details about the film emerge. Set to feature “outrageous” and “scandalous” gay sex scenes, it’s an adaptation of a short novel by William S. Burroughs.

Penned by Challengers’ screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, Queer follows Lee (Craig) as he navigates life in Mexico City, moving from bar to bar in the American expatriate scene in pursuit of fulfilling sexual encounters. 

Love, Simon star Drew Starkey and singer-songwriter Omar Apollo, making his big-screen debut, are also in the cast, along with The Crown’s Lesley Manville, and Jason Schwartzman, seen recently in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Omar Apollo revealed his involvement by reacting to a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) which read, “Omar Apollo joins Daniel Craig & Drew Starkey in Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Queer,’” the star confirmed the news.

“First movie with Luca, wow hot a** cast,” the “Pedro” singer wrote on the social media platform. 

Filming took place last year. Shooting was divided between Rome, Italy and Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and is reported to have wrapped in June 2023.

Meanwhile, Call Me By Your Name director Guadagnino is working on another star-studded film: After the Hunt. As well as Pretty Woman‘s Julia Roberts, it will also feature Spider-Man Andrew Garfield and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri. 

Boys Don’t Cry star Chloë Sevigny will work with the director again, after being seen in bloodthirsty cannibal romance Bones & All and HBO series We Are Who We Are. Michael Stuhlbarg, who played Timothée Chalamet’s dad in Call Me By Your Name, is also reuniting with Guadagnino for the dramatic thriller that revolves around a college professor (Roberts) who is drawn into the investigation when a star pupil accuses a colleague of misconduct.

There is no official date for After the Hunt‘s release although it is expected some time next year.