The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival begins Wednesday with the premiere of Tim Burton’s sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” and stars reminiscent of Nicole Kidman’s sexually provocative Babygirl and George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s Wolves will observe.
Listed below are 4 massive questions we anticipate to be answered on the pageant, which has lengthy been thought of the most effective unofficial start to Oscar season.
Will Joaquin Phoenix face the music?
The Venice debut of “Joker: Folie à Deux” has been speculated ever for the reason that first “Joker” gained the pageant’s prestigious Golden Lion award 5 years in the past. Can the sequel match the success of this movie, which earned greater than a billion {dollars} on the field workplace and introduced Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar for greatest actor? The brand new movie provides song-and-dance sequences and a strong associate in Girl Gaga, so it is clear that some massive modifications have been made.
However the “Joker: Folie à Deux” press convention in Venice could also be much more eagerly awaited than the movie itself now that Phoenix has made headlines for dropping out of a Todd Haynes movie simply as he was about to start out taking pictures. With the actor probably dealing with a lawsuit, will he be prepared to reply questions concerning the controversy from reporters? Or he’ll miss the convention altogether and bear in mind Florence Pughwho famously backed out of her Venice press for Do not Fear Darling two years in the past amid rumors of a feud with its director Olivia Wilde?
Can “Queer” and “Maria” depart a mark?
Two of probably the most anticipated titles at Venice are nonetheless searching for patrons: Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer,” an adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novel starring Daniel Craig, and Pablo Laraine’s “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie as opera singer Maria Callas.
After the writers’ and actors’ strikes left many studios trying woefully barren on the finish of the yr, you may need anticipated a bidding frenzy for 2 high-profile movies with massive stars, however the potential distributors who screened the movies are ready and… see strategy . Glittering Venice premieres and virtually sure Oscar buzz might assist gross sales.
How will Almodovar play in English?
Ever since Pedro Almodóvar rose to fame within the Nineteen Eighties, Hollywood has tried to land the Spanish actor for an English-language movie, hoping to lure him with initiatives like Brokeback Mountain and The Newsboy. Nonetheless, Almodóvar proved tough to court docket, worrying whether or not he would keep the identical command of actors whereas working in an unfamiliar language. With such a vivid imaginative and prescient for filmmaking, who would need it watered down?
The director not too long ago determined to check his braveness with two quick movies made in English The Pedro Pascal-Ethan Hawke Western The Strange Way of Life and The Human Voice, starring Tilda Swinton. These efforts went nicely sufficient that, at 74, Almodovar lastly directed his first English-language characteristic, “The Room Subsequent Door,” which opens in Venice on Monday and stars Swinton and Julianne Moore as a pair of deeply related New Yorkers.
What is going to this awards season appear to be?
The previous two awards seasons have been dominated by Oppenheimer and All the things All over the place at As soon as, runaway Finest Image winners that swept practically each main award alongside the best way. To this point this yr, no film has been modeled after them, and insiders who’ve seen many upcoming fall films do not anticipate anybody specifically to take the lead.
In different phrases, this season continues to be very a lot accomplished, and the movies about to debut in Venice have loads of room to make a splash. Within the subsequent few weeks, two extra main festivals will start in Telluride, Colorado, and Toronto, the place anticipated movies such because the papal thriller Conclave, the August Wilson drama The Piano Lesson and Night time Bitch, starring Amy Adams, will debut . Will this season look extra settled after the three festivals, when all however a handful of latecomers have been screened? Keep tuned.
