Kristen Stewart Sets Directorial Debut With Imogen Poots Starring

Imogen Poots will star in The Chronology of Water, a long-in-development adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch's 2017 memoir of the same name. The film will be directed by Twilight and Charlie's Angels star Kristen Stewart, who co-write the script with Andy Mingo, and who has been attached to the film since 2018. The project hails from Ridley Scott's Scott Free, so Scott, Michael Pruss, and Mingo will produce. Scott Free's Rebecca Feuer will executive produce.

The film is not the first collaboration between Scott Free and Stewart; they also produced her short film Come Swim, which she screened at film festivals in 2017. She also appeared in Welcome to the Rileys and Equals, as an actor rather than director.

"Lidia's memoir honors corporeal experience, radically," Stewart told Deadline, who first reported the casting. "To make that experience physical feels vital to me and what this impulse means … is that it absolutely must be a film. This project has been cooking for five years with the help of Scott Free, whom I could not be more privileged to have as partners and friends. Imogen Poots will carry this movie and the staggering weight of Lidia's life. She can hold it. I am beyond lucky to have her."

"Ridley and I are delighted to be working with Kristen again, this time on her feature directorial debut, adapted from Lidia Yuknavitch's extraordinary memoir," said Pruss. "Just as we have seen in Kristen's short films as a director, I have no doubt that she will bring that same level of style, uniqueness and fearless emotionality to The Chronology of Water. Furthermore, to have the the opportunity to work with Imogen — who is tailor-made for the lead role — is incredibly exciting. The combination of their talents will no doubt produce something exquisite for film audiences worldwide."

Stewart has tried for years to shake off criticisms of her performance in the Twilight films that made her a star, and the last couple of years have been key to that process. She scored an Oscar nomination for playing Princess Diana in Spencer, and starred opposite Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg's well-reviewed Crimes of the Future.

Here's the book and film's synopsis, via Deadline's story: 

[The Chronology of Water] is a lyrical journey through a life saved by art. A young woman finds her voice through the written word and her salvation as a swimmer – ultimately becoming a triumphant teacher, mother and a singular modern writer. A survivor's story and a sexually abrasive and honest coming of age, the film is a physical memory wash of Yuknavitch's inner life.