Mark Ruffalo will star opposite Emma Stone in Yorgos Lanthimos’ upcoming adaptation of “Poor Things,” from Searchlight Pictures, Film 4 and Element Pictures.

Ruffalo, an Emmy winner and three-time Oscar nominee, joins Oscar winner Stone and four-time nominee Willem Dafoe in the film adaptation of Alasdair Grey’s novel.

Lanthimos will direct and produce the film from a script by Tony McNamara, after pairing on “The Favourite,” for which McNamara earned an Oscar nomination for co-writing the screenplay.

“Poor Things” is a Frankenstein-esque tale set in the Victorian-era, described as a story of “love, discovery and scientific daring,” focusing on a young woman named Belle Baxter (Stone) brought back to life by an eccentric but brilliant scientist.

Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures, which has produced all of Lanthimos’ English-language films (“The Lobster,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and “The Favorite”), as well as “Room” and Hulu’s “Normal People,” will produce the film. In addition to starring in the film, Stone will produce the project, under her Fruit Tree banner.

In Theaters September 8th

From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone comes the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

Cast: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott

Even though the film is set to make its world premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival, Searchlight Pictures’ Poor Things from director Yorgos Lanthimos is delaying its release and will now open in theaters on Dec. 8. The film, which was originally set to open on Sept. 8, stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe with Lanthimos directing.

At the film’s official presser this afternoon, one topic continually raised by journalists in the room was sex, particularly how Lanthimos approached the film’s many sex scenes with his lead, Emma Stone. Throughout the film, Stone’s character features in multiple sex scenes and appears fully nude.

A drama of female empowerment and prosthetic dismemberment rolled into one, it may be the first Lanthimos movie in which this unsparing filmmaker doesn’t just slice his characters open but actually likes what he sees.