Pedro Almodovar pulls out of first English-language feature film

Oscar-winning director Pedro Almodovar said he is withdrawing from his first English-language feature, A Manual For Cleaning Women, produced by and starring Cate Blanchett.

Almodovar, 72, told entertainment news website Deadline Hollywood he was unable to handle the commitment.

“It has been a very painful decision for me,” he said.

“I have dreamt of working with Cate for such a long time.

“Dirty Films has been so generous with me this whole time and I was blinded by excitement, but unfortunately, I no longer feel able to fully realise this film.”

A new director has not been announced yet by Blanchett’s Dirty Films production company.

Almodovar’s brother and business partner confirmed the decision in a social media post on Wednesday.

“Pedro Almodovar is leaving the ‘A Manual for Cleaning Women’ project, which will continue forward with Cate Blanchett,” Agustin Almodovar, who helps his sibling run their El Deseo production company, wrote on Twitter.

A Manual For Cleaning Women is an adaptation of the eponymous collection of short stories by American author Lucia Berlin.

Pedro Almodovar won Oscars for best foreign language film for All About My Mother and for best original screenplay for Talk To Her.

He made his first short in English, The Human Voice, featuring Tilda Swinton, in 2020.