Most film fans were anticipating that this year’s Venice Film Festival was going to be a big event. Not that it hasn’t been a great showcase for amazing film in previous years, but with an international-heavy Cannes, that was missing it’s bigger stars, it was assumed that Venice would be the hot ticket this fall. And boy, were we right.
While we still have to wait until next week’s full announcement, Variety is reporting that there are several huge films that will have to premiere at this year’s Venice Film festival. Leading the way, we have Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” which is easily one of the year’s most anticipated films. And as we reported last night, the whole fest is being kicked off with Oscar-winning filmmaker Damien Chazelle’s “First Man,” starring Ryan Gosling.
Other major films that have reportedly been chosen include two from Netflix, “Roma,” which comes from filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron and was recently chosen to be part of the New York Film Festival, and Paul Greengrass’ “Norway.” Both of which are known as the casualties in the feud between Cannes and the streaming service.
There’s also a lot of Oscar buzz at this year’s festival. Including the aforementioned “Suspiria” and “First Man,” there’s a ton of awards hype surrounding films reportedly coming to Venice, including “Beautiful Boy” and “A Star is Born,” which the report says is likely but not locked in for Venice.
As for other high-profile projects getting a Venice premiere, we have Jacques Audiard’s Western “The Sisters Brothers,” which stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Joaquin Phoenix, as well as Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favorite,” starring Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. Lanthimos, of course, is best known for his films “The Lobster” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.” HBO will also appear at the festival, showing off their series “My Brilliant Friend.”
And just when you thought that every one of your most-anticipated films will be at Venice this year, there a couple big films that are reportedly NOT going to make the trip. Joel Edgerton’s “Boy Erased” and Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” are both not going to be competing at this year’s festival.
All told, this is an incredible line-up that puts most other festivals to shame. The Venice Film Festival begins August 29.
For those that want to soak in all the amazing films that we’ll see later this year, here’s a collection of some trailers for your perusal: