Zendaya Heads Back To The Lido With Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Challengers’ Set To Open Venice Film Festival

So what film will win the coveted Golden Lion at the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival this year? Well, there’s no front-runner right now because festival director Albert Barbera hasn’t even anvnounced the in-competition line-up yet. But now we know who will choose the winners alongside jury head Damien Chazelle.

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the names who will join Damien Chazelle on the main Competition jury of its 80th edition, running Aug 30 — Sep 9.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Jane Campion, Laura Poitras, Mia Hansen-Løve and Martin McDonagh are among high-caliber members of the Venice Film Festival’s main jury. The prominent directors, most of whom are Venice regulars – Poitras last year scored the Golden Lion with documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” – will be joined on the Venice jury panel by Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“Wajib”); Chinese star Shu Qi (“The Assassin”); Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, who was at Venice last year with “Freaks Out”; and Argentinian auteur Santiago Mitre whose “Argentina, 1985” also launched from the Lido last year. They will join Damien Chazelle who – as previously announced – will serve as president of the Venice competition jury. 

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts (Babylon) has been set to star opposite Hutch Dano and Christopher Livingston in Down Below, a psychological horror film from director Spyder Dobrofsky that is currently in production.

EXCLUSIVE: Phoebe Tonkin (Babylon) is among the cast leading the indie crime drama And On The Eighth Day from debut feature filmmaker Alexandra Chando, which has just wrapped production in New Mexico.

After nearly a month in theaters, “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” looks like an early frontrunner for 2023’s movie of the summer. And while the film faces off against “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny” next weekend, Sony‘s animated film is off to a great start at the box office.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has notched another box office milestone, crossing $500 million globally. So far, Sony’s animated comic book sequel has grossed $290.4 million in North America and $215.9 million internationally, which brings its worldwide tally to a mighty $506.3 million. It currently stands as the third-highest grossing domestic release of the year, behind Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($572 million) and Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” ($345 million). And it’s the fourth-biggest global release following “Mario” ($1.3 billion), “Guardians” ($822 million) and “Fast X” ($679 million). “Across the Spider-Verse” opened on June 2, collecting a huge $120 million during its first weekend in theaters. Despite competition from “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” another comic book adventure “The Flash” and Pixar’s animated “Elemental,” the second “Spider-Verse” remained a huge draw at the movies and even managed to surpass the entire run of its 2018 predecessor, “Into the Spider-Verse” ($384 million), after just 12 days of release.

Zendaya sparked an online frenzy after the first trailer for director Luca Guadagnino’s new film “Challengers” was released.

With Tuesday’s global business factored in, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has swung past the half-a-century mark worldwide, grossing $506.3M through yesterday.

Challengers, a tennis drama starring Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, has dropped.Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Bones And All) has directed the film, which arrives in US cinemas on September 15.It follows the drama on and off court between former tennis prodigy-turned-coach Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), her husband and failing tennis pro, Art (Faist) and fellow tennis player Patrick (O’Connor), who is Art’s former best friend and Tashi’s ex boyfriend.In the trailer, snippets of Tashi strategising for her husband’s professional redemption are shown, winding up with a match against Patrick. Flashbacks to Tashi, Art and Patrick engaging in a threesome of some description when they were younger are also shown.Meanwhile, in other related news, Zendaya is set to reprise her role as Chani in Dune: Part Two – and the official trailer was released last month.Zendaya, who plays the lead in HBO‘s Euphoria series, also joined the series’ soundtrack star Labrinth onstage at Coachella Festival 2023 in April, making her first live performance in more than eight years.The actress and musician released her self-titled debut album in 2013 ahead of a tour that wrapped in 2015.

Automatik, the production company behind “La La Land,” is merging with Range Media Players, TheWrap has confirmed. As part of the merger, Automatik executives Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger have been named partners and co-presidents of film and production at Range.

EXCLUSIVE: The prolific film/TV production company Automatik has completed a merger with Range Media Partners, a deal that will further expand Range’s production capabilities and slate ambitions.