‘Challengers’ Review: Zendaya and Company Smash the Sports-Movie Mold in Luca Guadagnino’s Tennis Scorcher

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

Zendaya and Tom Holland’s relationship is going strong. According to new reports, the couple has even discussed marriage and has planned for a future together.Zendaya pays homage to Venus and Serena Williams with iconic look recreationZendaya shares what Serena Williams told her after watching her play tennis in ‘Challengers’A source spoke to PEOPLE and revealed that Holland and Zendaya are very serious about each other.

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.

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.

Challengers, the new tennis-based film starring Zendaya, is out in cinemas tomorrow (April 26).It’s the latest film from acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Bones and All), and centres on an intense love triangle between tennis coach Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) and rival racket-thrashers Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), who is also her husband.In a four-star review of the film, NME wrote: “The performances are exceptional, with off-the-scale chemistry between all three leads. Zendaya, in particular, is a force of nature, and you feel her angry frustration at her own career path (which was cut short by injury) in every scene.

Saltburn.”Like Emerald Fennell’s shapeshifting mystery, “Challengers” is, at once, artful, addictive and deceptive. The salivating viewer believes it’s one thing, becomes sure it’s another and then leaves with a different theory altogether.There are more similarities.

Freya Allan and Andy Serkis, along with their fellow cast members, attend the UK premiere for 20th Century Studios’ movie ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ at the BFI IMAX Waterloo in London, England, on April 25, 2024.

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.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” is sweaty, sexy and full of angst. The film, which hits theaters April 26, centers on a love triangle between three tennis players with deeply competitive spirits both in the game and off the court.

Zendaya not only stars in Luca Guadagnino‘s Challengers but is also a producer in the film written by Justin Kuritzkes.

Dashcam footage has revealed the horrifying moment a huge tree almost landed on cars in Manchester amid strong winds on Monday (April 15).

Brits are set to bask in a '72 hour' heatwave, according to some forecasters, but not everyone will be feeling the heat as two parts of England are expected to miss out on the sizzling temperatures.

In Challengers, Luca Guadagnino serves up a film that is as much about the volleys of human emotion as it is about the physical rallies on the tennis court.

Adam and Ryan Thomas are being lined up as presenters of a new weekend gameshow on ITV. The pair are already popular with viewers from appearances in Emmerdale and Coronation Street, plus reality shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice.

EXCLUSIVE: In Playing Nice James Norton stars as Pete, a doting dad who finds out his son was switched at birth, giving him a different kind of hero to portray. “He’s a kind of small hero,” Norton told Deadline. “Unlike most of the characters I’ve played, he’s very likable, very amenable and recognizable. There’s a simplicity to him, which I hadn’t really played before, and a likability and quietness that made him feel very real.”

For more than a decade, Natasha Raskin Sharp has captivated audiences with her expertise and charisma on Bargain Hunt, where she first graced screens in 2014. Since her debut on the hit BBC show, the 37 year old has become a familiar face on various television programs, showcasing her knowledge and passion for antiques. Her talents have extended beyond Bargain Hunt, with notable appearances on other shows like Antiques Road Trip, Flog It, and even the US series Baggage Battles.

After years of exile on planet Disney+, Lucasfilm’s plan to marshal “Star Wars” back to the big screen is about to take off. Just a few hours after “The Mandalorian & Grogu” landed a summer 2026 release date from Disney, another “Star Wars” film from director James Mangold is starting to take shape.

Christopher Vourlias Even before it became a primetime sensation last fall, Greek drama “The Beach” had all the elements of a smash hit. Set during the summer of free love in a hippie commune on the island of Crete, the sun-splashed series takes a dark turn with a mysterious murder, setting into motion events that have captivated Greek audiences across more than one hundred episodes to date.

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic “Some secrets are meant to stay buried” says the ad line for “Strictly Confidential.” But you’d need a sizable underground bunker to contain all the effortfully shocking revelations sprung in this very silly sudser, which starts out looking like an erotic thriller-mystery, then descends into a series of flashback-laden explication monologues more apt for “Dynasty” than Agatha Christie. Damian Hurley’s directorial feature, with famous mum Elizabeth top-billed and producing, provides several hardbodied younger performers opportunity to model clothes and approximate recognizable human emotions on the coastline of tax haven island nation Saint Kitts and Nevis.