There’s always a lot of anticipation leading up to the Venice International Film Festival, and this year is no different. Some of the year’s most-anticipated new films will see the light of day in Venice, including Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, David Fincher’s The Killer, and Ava DuVernay’s Origin.
About a month ahead of the festival’s opening night, Venice bosses finally shared the full lineup with the world. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, Michael Mann’s Ferrari, and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla are only some of the high-profile projects set to premiere as a part of the “in competition” program, while Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Richard Linklater’s Hit Man will premiere out of competition.
Edoardo De Angelis’s Comandante will serve as the festival’s opening film after Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers withdraw from the festival as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Several A-list stars are expected to miss the festival for this reason, but the artistic director Alberto Barbera is still certain that the red carpet will be pretty full.
“Luckily enough the consequences of this strike – which has very good motivations we can agree to – the impact is quite modest on our festival. A few stars will not be with us… We will have actors and actresses who have worked in productions that are fully independent,” said Barbera while talking to the press.
The 80th Venice International Film Festival will return to Italy between August 30 and September 9, with Damien Chazelle serving as the jury president.
