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The upcoming Venice Film Festival has updated the movies set to premiere at the event, Variety exclusively reported.
Movies from Hollywood top talents such as Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Gal Gadot and Ana de Armas will debut at the film festival.
Festival head Alberto Barbero hasn't made an announcement as to which movies will be in competition, a handful of films have already secured a place in Venice. Some of the more mainstream films will most likely bow out of the competition.
Hollywood stars set to shine on Venice
Todd Phillips' musical sequel to the 2019 Golden Lion winning Joker, Joker 2: Folie à Deux, which stars Gaga and Phoenix, will mostly likely compete, along with the Maria Callas biopic Maria directed by Pablo Larraìn and starring Jolie in the titular role.
Larraín's previous female-led biopics, 2021's Spencer starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana and 2016's Jackie with Natalie as the former first lady Kennedy Onassis, both debuted at the Venice Film Festival.
Another film that may be a lock-in to the competition is Luca Guadagnino's Queer, a feature adaptation of William S. Burroughs' 1985 novel of the same title, which stars Daniel Craig as the author's alter ego and Outer Banks' Drew Starkey as the younger man Burroughs becomes infatuated with. The postmodern author is widely considered as a pre-eminent figure of the Beat Generation. In the novel, his character is an American expat in Mexico fighting a heroin addiction.
Guadagnino's recent film, Challenger, was supposed to open last year in Venice out of competition. However, they movie was pulled from the festival because of complications regarding promotions caused by the SAG-AFTRA strike.
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George Clooney and Brad Pitt premiere Wolfs at the Lido
Also premiering at the festival is Jon Watts' action comedy Wolfs, which reunited Clooney and Pitt as lone-wolf fixers who are forced to work together to cover up a high-profile crime. Rom Howard's survival thriller Eden is also in the mix, which stars Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Brühl. These titles will most likely be playing out of competition rather than compete for the Golden Lion.
The crime mystery In the Hand of Dante directed by Julian Schnabel has a strong chance to compete at the Venice Film Festival. The film is stacked with stars such as Gal Gadot, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese. The movie is based on Nick Tosches' 2002 book of the same name, which follows the story of how the manuscript of Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy made its way from a priest to a New York City mob boss.
Johnny Depp is set to return to Venice after making a comeback last year in Cannes as director, this time. His biopic of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani Modi stars Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio as the painter and sculptor. Pacino plays Maurice Gangnat, the international art collector. Last year, Depp's Cannes attendance was for his portrayal of King Louis XV in Jeanne Du Barry.
The last time the actor directed a film was 25 years ago, the 1997 neo-Western The Brave, which was critically panned and commercial flop. He starred with Marlon Brando. One of the questions that will certainly be asked is if this sophomore effort will reboot his career after his highly publicized trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Other films that may make it in competition are Mike Leigh's Hard Truths and Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles' Ainda Estou Aqui (I'm Still Here). It was previously announced that French actress Isabelle Huppert is the jury president.
The 81st Venice Film Festival will run from Aug. 28 to Sept. 7.
