Carol premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2015 before its official release in November.
Based on Patricia Highsmith's 1952 novel The Price of Salt (published under the pseudonym Claire Morgan, and republished under Highsmith's name in 1990 with the title Carol), Dorothy Berwin had obtained the rights to the novel in 1996 and Phyllis Nagy completed a script in 1997 and then was delayed by almost a decade as different actors, directors, and financial backers came and went (Berwin's rights expired in 2010, but she remained as executive producer).
After John Crowley left the project in 2013 (with Cate Blanchett and Mia Wasikowska cast), Todd Haynes was approached to direct. Wasikowska had to leave due to scheduling issues, and Haynes approached Rooney Mara (who had turned down the role of Therese a few years earlier).
Carol was a commercial and critical success (it received a 10-minute standing ovation at Cannes, and Rooney Mara received the award for Best Actress), and would go on to receive almost 300 award nominations, and more than 100 awards, including 6 Academy Award nominations: Best Actress (Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Mara), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Edward Lachman), Best Original Score (Carter Burwell), and Best Costume Design (Sandy Powell). It did not receive an Oscar.
