Marie Antoinette: Leigh Johnson

Marie Antoinette

RELEASE DATE Oct. 20

WHY WE CAN'T WAIT After the dreamy enchantments of Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation, we'll come along to whatever strange landscape she wants to visit — especially if she's bringing along Virgin star Kirsten Dunst.

THE PREMISE Teenage Austrian princess Marie (Dunst) marries Louis XVI (Coppola cousin Jason Schwartzman), becomes queen of France, then gets chased out of Versailles by those revolting peasants.

SOURCE An original screenplay by Coppola

THE BACKSTORY Filmmakers don't usually get to shoot at Versailles, but the fellow who runs the palace/museum granted Coppola unprecedented access because he's a big Translation fan.

BURNING QUESTION Will audiences buy the blend of period detail and deliberate anachronism (for example, Coppola's Marie is a sneaker-wearing punk who listens to Siouxsie and the Banshees)?

COME FOR Fun-loving kids Dunst and Schwartzman

STAY FOR Wily old pros Rip Torn and Judy Davis