Is Kristen Stewart’s Directorial Debut Still Happening? Here’s The Latest

kristen stewart princess diana spencer
(Image credit: Neon)

As an actress, Kristen Stewart’s success is hitting sky high. For the first time ever, she reached Oscar recognition for her role as Princess Diana in Spencer. She also has upcoming projects that she’ll have roles in like the A24 bodybuilding drama Love Lies Bleeding and her new grotesque movie Crimes of the Future. Behind the camera, however, everything is up in the air. Kristen Stewart speaks the latest of her directorial debut The Chronology of Water.

The Twilight star has been reaching some snags in getting her directorial debut underfoot. We already know that Kristen Stewart can wow audiences when she’s in front of the camera, but we’re all curious about what her talents as a director could be like. The Oscar-nominated actress spoke to IndieWire at this year’s Cannes Film Festival about her anticipation for wanting this film to happen already.

If I don’t make this movie before the end of the year, I’ll die.

One of the challenges that Kristen Stewart has as an up-and-coming director is securing financing for the Lidia Yuknavitch adaptation. This is because she wants a small crew of five people. That seems really aspirational considering as of 2018, according to Stephen Follows, it was said that an average of 280 people are believed to be part of a film crew. It was since that year that Kristen Stewart has been linked as a director to this project as she felt like the source material was very personal to her. The memoir focuses on the themes of bisexuality, addiction, and involvement with the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement opposing Israeli oppression of Palestine. 

One of Kristen Stewart’s goals in making this film was to “hire a really spectacular actor.” However, that actress will not be her. The reason she won’t be starring in it is more to focus on her role as a director instead of an actress in the upcoming film. She said she could see herself possibly playing a small role as the lead’s older sister, but it may not happen. Maybe she'll find a way to somehow cameo in the film.

The latest update of The Chronology of Water as of March is that the film is currently “in process” of pre-production. Stewart was “monumentally relieved” when she finally found her lead who has yet to be announced. After all, she said she knew it would be a risk to ask someone to be part of this small project. Could this lead actress be an A-list star whose name we may be familiar with or is Stewart taking a chance on an up-and-comer? 

It appears that Kristen Stewart’s career is continuing to develop whether she’s on-screen or off. The Chronology of Water seems like a project that this aspiring director is very passionate about. I’m sure we will see this passion on-screen. Hopefully, this will be the lucky start that Kristen Stewart needs for the next chapter of her career. 

Carly Levy
Entertainment Writer

Just your average South Floridian cinephile who believes the pen is mightier than the sword.