If it feels like you’ve been waiting ages for Joe Wright’s thriller, The Woman in the Window, well, you have. Originally due to open in 2019, the Amy Adams-led film was bumped around the release date schedule, disrupted by the acquisition of Fox by Disney, COVID-19, and awful test screenings. And then last summer word arrived that it might be moving to Netflix, which is now official with a timeframe on when we might actually see it.
The Woman in the Window will hit Netflix in the first half of 2021 according to EW. The film, which stars Adams as an agoraphobic child psychologist investigating the disappearance of a neighbor she’s been spying on, was to open in October 2019. Then reports surfaced of test screenings that yielded disastrous results, causing a significant delay for reshoots. A trailer was most recently released in December 2019 and…well, it didn’t look great then, either.
In regards to the reshoots and why they were necessary, Wright said “There were some plot points that people found a bit confusing — I would say possibly too opaque maybe. So we had to go back and clarify certain points, but I think also we tried to make sure we didn’t oversimplify anything and make things too clear. There’s an enjoyment in not knowing what’s going on, but at the same time, you have to give the audience something to hold on to — you have to lead them through the labyrinth of mystery and fear.
Despite all of that, it’s easy to see why Netflix would want to get their hands on such a high-profile film. Along with Adams, the star-studded cast includes Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Fred Hechinger, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Julianne Moore. The names alone will guarantee a significant viewership, even if the movie stinks.
