Venice Lines Up 'Suburbicon,' 'Shape Of Water' & More

The official press conference isn’t until next week, but as these things go, the trades have gotten the scoop on the Venice Film Festival lineup, and it’s a killer. While the Lido always has plenty of goods, this year they really seem to be bringing the business with several high profile titles that will join opener, Alexander Payne‘s “Downsizing.”

George Clooney’s “Suburbicon,” Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” Martin McDonaugh‘s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Andrew Haigh‘s “Lean On Pete,” Paul Schrader‘s “First Reformed,” and Lucrecia Martel’s “Zama” are all expected to make their premieres in Venice. That’s pretty incredible, however, there are big high profile movies that are not going to be swinging through Venice.

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Rather surprisingly, Darren Aronofsky‘s “mother!” starring Jennifer Lawrence (which has just been moved up to a September 15th release date) won’t be headed to the fest. Presumably, Paramount feels the movie is not an awards contender and perhaps more of a straight genre play. TIFF, which plays host to more wide audience oriented movies, is certainly still a possibility. Meanwhile, Denis Villeneuve‘s “Blade Runner 2049” will be skipping Venice too. Again, TIFF seems a possibility given the director and Ryan Gosling‘s Canadian credentials, not to mention that the fest has played host to “Gravity” and “The Martian” in past years.

Other surprises coming to Venice include “Blue Is The Warmest Color” director Abdellatif Kechiche‘s “Mektoub Is Mektoub.” The film faced legal battles earlier this year as production spiraled out of control, leading to the filmmaker to cut two separate movies, but it looks like whatever problems were happening have been resolved for the moment.

It’s also interesting to note that while Cannes and Netflix wrestled this spring over the streaming service’s place at prestige fests and whether or not they are destroying the industry, Venice DGAF. They’ll be premiering the Netflix picture “Our Souls At Night” starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, and are also expected to screen the Italian series “Suburra.” Even more, that show’s Alessandro Borghi will also be the master of ceremonies at the festival.

Of course, nothing is official until next week, but these are all pretty good bets. Venice runs from August 30th to September 9th and we can’t wait for it to start. [Variety]