Sharjah24 – Reuters: Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst joined acclaimed New Zealand director Jane Campion on the London Film Festival red carpet on Monday (October 11) to premiere their new movie "The Power of the Dog".

The dramatic Western marks Campion's big screen return following a 12-year hiatus. The comeback has been triumphant so far with Campion winning the Venice Film Festival Silver Lion for best director award exactly a month earlier on September 11.

The 67-year-old filmmaker picked a tale of machismo and revenge set in 1925 Montana and based on a novel by Thomas Savage for her first film since "Bright Star", a 2009 biographical drama about poet John Keats, and several years spent working on a TV series.

Cumberbatch said he relished the opportunity to play someone so mean and so different from himself.

The 45-year-old English actor completely immersed himself in his role and stayed in character even when the cameras were not rolling. He and Dunst - whose role is amplified in the film compared to the book - barely greeted each other on set to keep with the tense, antagonistic atmosphere that pervades the movie.

Campion's film, which was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, also stars Dunst's real-life fiance Jesse Plemons as George Burbank.

The Power of The Dog" is due to be released in select U.S. cinemas on November 17 and start streaming globally on Netflix from December 1.