Luca Guadagnino Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

A 73m x 7m submarine was always going to be a left-field substitute for A-lister Zendaya after Luca Guadagnino’s hotly anticipated tennis movie Challengers was pulled from the Venice Film Festival’s prestigious opening-night slot. And although the gargantuan Cappellini is a formidable presence in Eduardo De Angelis’s 1940-set war drama, Comandante seems woefully out of its depth as a curtain-raiser to a festival still reckoning with the effects of the SAG strike.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Venice Film Festival has only continued to garner momentum under longtime festival director Alberto Barbera, who in recent years has managed to lure significant star power — from Lady Gaga to Joaquin Phoenix to Timothée Chalamet to Harry Styles — to the Lido. So imagine the heartbreak and fear last month when — just as Barbera was about to lock in one of his strongest lineups yet — he learned that, as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike, many movie stars wouldn’t be able to make the trek to Italy this year.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The 80th Venice Film Festival kicks off tomorrow with a robust roster of awards season hopefuls making their bows, such as Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Sophia Coppola’s “Priscilla” and David Fincher’s “The Killer,” accompanied by a smattering of stars. As previously reported by Variety, the festival has confirmed that Adam Driver will be in Venice to promote “Ferrari” while Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, who play Priscilla and Elvis Presley in “Priscilla,” as well as Priscilla Presley herself, are also expected to be on the Lido.

Venice parallel section Giornate degli Autori (GdA), running alongside the main festival from August 30 to September 9, celebrates its 20th edition this year.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Zendaya is hoping to get evil in the near future. During a video interview for Elle magazine, the Emmy winner said she would like to play a villain role in the future. Zendaya noted that the majority of her output as been playing “the good guy,” which is a trend she wants to break.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Rachel Allen has joined Bleecker Street as senior vice president of publicity. She begins her job at the indie studio this week after more than a decade in the public relations industry, including a five year stint at Cinetic Media, where she served as a director of publicity and led campaigns from festival launch to theatrical release and through awards season.

Neon has expanded their marketing ranks by tapping A24 vets Alexandra Altschuler as VP Media and Don Wilcox as VP Marketing.

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!

Zendaya is opening up about her steamy new movie Challengers.

Fans of Luca Guadagninio pricked up their ears when the director announced last year that his next film would be a movie about tennis. Guada and tennis? That doesn’t sound like it’d work on paper.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rome’s Cinecittà Studios are in the midst of a radical overhaul that started in June 2021, when the government-owned facilities, headed by Nicola Maccanico — who is a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec — secured a multi-million dollar loan provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund to upgrade and expand the studios. Productions that recently set up camp on its iconic backlot, lured in part by Italy’s generous 40% cash-back tax credit, include Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die,” which is currently shooting, and Luca Guadagnino’s recently wrapped William Burroughs adaptation “Queer” starring Daniel Craig.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent An underhanded move by members of Italy’s right-wing government to try and take over the management of Rome’s Centro Sperimentale Film School is prompting an uproar by its students and a strong show of support from the country’s top directors. Earlier this week, students of the Centro Sperimentale — which is the oldest film school in the world, and among the finest — staged a demonstration in front of the country’s parliament just as a piece of legislation that would change the school’s management was swiftly being approved by a parliamentary committee.

EXCLUSIVE: Despite all the champagne popping at Warner Bros and Universal over the bananas box office success of Barbie and Oppenheimer, distribution executives continue to sweat over a possible lengthy SAG-AFTRA strike that is already blowing up the fall release calendar. We told you first last week this was going to happen. All major motion picture studios are assessing release-date changes the longer SAG-AFTRA strike goes on. Many want their stars to promote these films.

The Venice Film Festival on Tuesday released a star-studded and A-list heavy lineup of films that will debut at the 2023 Biennale, including the films vying for this year’s Golden Lion. This was done despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors and WGA writers strike.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera is in a good mood after Tuesday’s lineup announcement managed to stave off the impact of the SAG-AFTRA strike, something which could have been “devastating” to the event, he says. In the end, the only U.S. film that skipped the Lido is Luca Guadagnino’s Zendaya-starrer “Challengers,” which Barbera says was against Guadagnino’s wishes.

Refresh for latest…: Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera is announcing the lineup for the event’s 80th edition this morning. We’ll be updating the list as the films are revealed, so check back for more below. You can also watch the livestream here.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The 80th Venice Film Festival is announcing its lineup on Tuesday from the Italian city, where artistic director Alberto Barbera and La Biennale president Roberto Cicutto are holding a press conference. The Lido’s only previously announced titles in the main selection are the opener, Italian director Edoardo De Angelis’ “Comandante” — a lavish anti-war epic featuring local star Pierfrancesco Favino as a heroic Sicilian World War II naval officer — and the closer, Netflix’s survival thriller “Society of the Snow” by Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona. “Comandante” replaced Luca Guadagnino’s sexy sports comedy “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, which had previously been set as the fest’s buzzy opener but was pulled due to promotional complications prompted by the SAG-AFTRA strike.

The Venice Film Festival will announce the lineup for its 80th edition Tuesday at 11 a.m. European time (3 a.m. PT/6 a.m. ET). Venice Artistic Director Alberto Barbera will be joined by Biennale President Roberto Cicutto to reveal this year’s titles.

The dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes aren’t stalling the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, which announced the first 60 feature films in what’s expected to be a 200-plus-title schedule. Last year counted some 260 full-length films.

The Venice Film Festival will close with the world premiere of J. A. Bayona’s Netflix survival thriller La Sociedad De La Nieve (Society Of The Snow).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Spanish director J.A. Bayona’s “Society of the Snow,” a reconstruction of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes that forced survivors to take extreme measures, including cannibalism, has been set as the Venice Film Festival’s closing film. The deeply immersive Spanish-language saga is a Netflix original film shot in Andalusia’s Sierra Nevada, mainland Spain’s highest mountain range, using a 300-person crew. “Society of the Snow” will world premiere on the Lido out-of-competition on Sept. 9th. Its official screening will be held in the Palazzo del Cinema after the awards ceremony. In 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which had been chartered to bring Montevideo’s Old Christians Rugby Club team to Chile, crashed at an altitude of 11,712 feet in the Andes.  Of its 45 passengers – which consisted mostly of the rugby team, friends and family – 29 survived. Without food, the survivors, who belonged to Uruguay’s elite, were forced to eat the flesh of the deceased to stay alive. 19 survived an avalanche. 72 days after the crash, 16 finally made it out alive. 

Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, has been pulled from the Venice Film Festival, where it was to be the opening night film, due to the actors strike.

Fans are going to have to a wait a few more months before Zendaya‘s next movie hits theaters.

Bad news out of the Venice Film Festival: Variety reports that Luca Guadagnino‘s “Challengers” will no longer be the opening film on the Lido this year. What’s more, MGM/Amazon Studios have pushed back the tennis love triangle drama’s US theatrical release to next spring, too.

Another 2023 theatrical release gets moved due to the SAG-AFTRA strike as MGM is pushing the Zendaya starring, Luca Guadagnino directed R-Rated tennis romance to April 26, 2024. The pic was scheduled to open stateside on Sept. 15, working off the heat of its Venice Film Festival opening night premiere. That world premiere is not happening now.

Zendaya tennis drama Challengers has become a high-profile casualty of the SAG-AFTRA strike with confirmation that its Venice Film Festival world premiere has been cancelled.

“TIFF is on,” beamed the Toronto International Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey to Deadline, “Our dates are the same, the films are coming.”

Venice may have Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” with Zendaya and Josh O’Connor to open the annual soiree on the Liido, but the New York Film Festival is going to kick off with some Cannes gold. Today, the Film Society of Lincoln Center revealed that Todd Haynes’ “May December,” which premiered on la Croisette, will open the 61st edition of the New York Film Festival.

The Venice Film Festival will start with Luca Guadagnino’s sexy sports comedy “Challengers,” featuring Zendaya as a former tennis prodigy turned coach involved in a love triangle with two professional tennis players, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.

After delivering a blisteringly saucy trailer, Luca Guadagnino’s latest film “Challengers” will set the Venice Film Festival ablaze as their opening night film, screening out of competition, TheWrap has confirmed. The film follows Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a successful tennis champ drawn to two men, played by Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor.

Well, it’s official: Variety reports that Luca Guadagnino‘s latest, his tennis love triangle film “Challengers,” will open the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival. No surprise there, as Guada has premiered five of his seven feature films on the Lido.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Luca Guadagnino’s sexy sports comedy “Challengers,” starring Zendaya as a former tennis prodigy turned coach entangled in a love triangle with two pro tennis players, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, will open the Venice Film Festival. “Challengers” will world premiere out of competition on Aug. 30 in the Venice Lido’s Palazzo del Cinema, providing a star-studded kickoff for the fest’s 80th edition. The hotly anticipated film – which marks Guadagnino’s first full-fledged U.S. studio movie – will be distributed in the U.S. by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures/Amazon Studios, and internationally through Warner Bros Pictures.

The Venice Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers.

Zendaya has a new movie coming out. “Challengers” will be released later this year, and is already one of the most talked about films of the year.

Creative Artists Agency on Wednesday announced the elevation of five to agent, along with the promotion of another to an executive role.

Beyoncé and Zendaya attended the star-studded Louis Vuitton fashion show to celebrate Pharrell’s menswear debut after being named the new creative director for the brand. The successful singer took a moment from her incredible Renaissance World Tour and sat front row next to the Emmy winner, who is making headlines for her new role in Luca Guadagnino’s film ‘Challengers.’Fans of the two stars went crazy after a short clip went viral, showing the pair having a sweet moment before the show started.