Stars including Angelina Jolie and George Clooney are set to gather at the Venice Film Festival this week, injecting a significant dose of Hollywood glamour back into the sandy Lido of the watery city. The 81st edition of the prestigious festival, featuring 21 films competing for the Golden Lion award, commences on Wednesday. Expected attendees on the red carpet over the 10-day event include Lady Gaga, Daniel Craig, and Brad Pitt. The resurgence of star power is a welcome sight after last year's Hollywood strikes largely kept studio films and their top stars away from the world's oldest film festival, known as 'La Mostra'.
Among the films in the spotlight but not in competition is the highly anticipated sequel to Tim Burton's 1988 cult classic, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which opens the festival on Wednesday. Original cast members Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara, and Winona Ryder will reprise their roles. High-profile contenders in the main competition include Todd Phillips' Joker: Folie a Deux, a sequel to his 2019 Venice-winning film featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, and Queer, directed by Italy's Luca Guadagnino and starring Craig, based on the William Burroughs novel set in 1940s Mexico City.
Angelina Jolie leads the cast of Maria, a biopic of Maria Callas directed by Chile's Pablo Larrain, who returns to Venice after his 2021 film Spencer. Nicole Kidman and Antonio Banderas star in the thriller Babygirl from Dutch director Halina Reijn. To maintain focus on the screen drama and avoid off-screen issues, Maria will premiere on the festival's first full day, Thursday, while Wolfs, starring Pitt, will screen out of competition on Sunday.
Joining Pitt in the Apple TV+ film from Spider-Man director Jon Watts is Clooney, who plays a rival professional fixer in the action comedy. The main competition also features the first full-length English film from Spain's Pedro Almodovar, The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. The Order, from Australian director Justin Kurzel, sees Jude Law as an FBI agent investigating a terror ring in the Pacific Northwest.
The opening night on Wednesday will introduce the international jury led by its president, French actress Isabelle Huppert, and honor US actress Sigourney Weaver with an honorary Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Additionally, the second chapter of Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga will have its out-of-competition debut. The first part premiered at Cannes in May.
Running until September 7, the international festival has increasingly become known for showcasing films that later achieve Oscar success for their directors and cast members. Unlike the rival Cannes Film Festival, Venice accepts films produced by streaming services in competition, particularly Netflix, which has successfully launched titles like Maestro and Roma at the Italian festival. Besides Wolfs, Apple TV+ also produced the thriller series Disclaimer, starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, and Sacha Baron Cohen, which premieres in Venice.
