‘Challengers’ review: Steamy Zendaya movie is this year’s ‘Saltburn’

The guys of Challengers have arrived at the 2024 Met Gala!

Glamour's senior west coast editor Jessica Radloff said it first: Challengers is set to be the .That's certainly the case here in the office. Some staffers loved it (hi, hello), while others were disappointed or worse—bored.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Zack Sharf Digital News Director SPOILER ALERT: This article contains plot details for “Challengers,” now playing in theaters. All Tashi Duncan wanted was great tennis. At the end of Luca Guadagnino’s buzzy tennis drama “Challengers,” the camera freezes on Tashi (Zendaya) as she screams “come on!” following a match point volley for the ages between competitors Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist). The volley got so intense that it ends with Art leaping over the net and falling into Patrick’s arms.

Challengers, it's clear she's in complete control. From the strong whip of her braid and sexy moonlit skin as a young rising tennis star, to her sharp honey blonde bob and perfect nude manicure as a mother and mogul, Tashi's look is punctuated by power.Of course, her commanding presence on screen is a testament to Zendaya, who plays the tennis champ-turned coach in Luca Guadagnino's new romance drama.

his new film, “Challengers,” co-starring Zendaya and “West Side Story” star Mike Faist, he’s showing a whole new side of himself.O’Connor plays tennis pro Patrick, one-third of a love triangle with Tashi (Zendaya), a tennis pro poised for greatness before an injury relegates her to coaching, and Art (Faist), another well-to-do tennis pro. Tashi eventually marries Art, and Patrick comes back into their lives years later, kicking off tensions and connections, including a racy threesome.Reviews have described “Challengers” as sexy and steamy, something O’Connor is still surprised he was chosen for.“If you were making the movie, you wouldn’t cast me,” O’Connor recalled telling screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes in an interview for The Wall Street Journal.

have been on a globetrotting press tour to get the word out about Italian director Luca Guadagnino’s original film, which opened in 3,477 locations in the US and Canada.“We’re obviously very, very happy with the number,” said Kevin Wilson, who heads theatrical distribution for Amazon Studios and MGM. “Looking at the audience who showed up, it’s really encouraging.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The Post called the romantic sports drama starring Zendaya and Mike Faist, “artful, addictive and deceptive.”The flick, which centers around a tennis champion who stages a comeback with the help of his former tennis prodigy wife, could enjoy a $15 million opening weekend, according to the Hollywood Reporter.The Christian drama “Unsung Hero” was in second place, taking home $3.65 million.The movie, which was also released on Friday, is based on the true story of the Smallbone familyof Grammy-winning musicians and details the hardships they endured emigrating from Australia to the United States in the 1990s.“Civil War,” which The Post bashed as “a torturous, overrated movie without a point,” landed in third, with an over $1.9 million take.In just over two weeks after its premiere, it became the independent production company A24’s second-highest-grossing film, beating out its other high earners such as “Lady Bird” and “Hereditary.”“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which was released on March 29, was in fourth place, with sales of $1.76 million.The horror film “Abigail” took fifth, with $1.49 million in earnings.

A central scene in director Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers wasn’t in Justin Kuritzkes’ original script.

As an actress and executive producer, Zendaya is already a multi-hyphenate, but she’s not quite ready to climb into a director’s chair.  IndieWire reports (via The New York Times) that the “Challengers” star needs more time before she directs her first project. But when that day comes, Luca Guadagnino will say, “I told you so.” READ MORE: ‘Challengers’ Review: Zendaya Rules This Love Triangle “I’m overly conscious of everything else around me,” Zendaya told the publication in an interview for Guada’s new tennis drama, in theaters today.

Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor‘s steamy three-way Challengers kiss has been generating a lot of attention since the movie’s first trailer. However, the moment almost didn’t make it into the movie!

Amazon MGM Studios’ Challengers, starring Zendaya and directed by Luca Guadagnino, made $1.9M in previews, a figure $100K shy of what Universal’s Cocaine Bear did. The tennis sexy romcom is hoping to open to $15M for the weekend.

Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist are talking Challengers.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Game, set… but there’s not much of a match. “Challengers,” a steamy tennis drama starring Zendaya and directed by Luca Guadagnino, is poised to lead the domestic box office without much in the way of competition. The film, from Amazon MGM, is projected to collect $12 million to $15 million from 3,400 North American theaters in its opening weekend.

Zendaya wonders why her kissing scenes get a lot of attention when she’s just doing her job.

Zendaya has said that she believes it is “very odd” that she is always asked about kissing her male co-stars in interviews.The actor, who is currently promoting her latest film Challengers, appeared on the Jake’s Takes podcast when the issue of the “abnormal amount of attention” to her kissing scenes was raised by host Jake Hamilton.“I have no idea. I don’t know if it’s because they want it to be, like, a viral thing, I don’t know.

From almost all accounts, it seems like Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino has another hit on his hands with “Challengers,” a new tennis drama from MGM Studios that’s actually more of a love-triangle romance bundled into the sports genre. Starring Zendaya (Marvel’s “Spider-Man” franchise and the “Dune” series), Josh O’Connor (“Dr.

Based on the marketing, you might think “Challengers” is at its core, a tennis movie and, well, it sort of is. The film is certainly set in the world of tennis, you can’t deny that, and at one point, Zendaya’s character Tashi Duncan remarks, “We’re always talking about tennis.” The sport is at the center of her life.

Zendaya switched into a second look of the night at the LA premiere of her new movie Challengers held at Westwood Village Theater on Tuesday night (April 16) in Los Angeles.

Zendaya is gracing the red carpet!