Zendaya Movie ‘Challengers’ Cancels Venice Film Festival World Premiere Due To Strike; Fest Chooses New Opener
deadline.comZendaya tennis drama Challengers has become a high-profile casualty of the SAG-AFTRA strike with confirmation that its Venice Film Festival world premiere has been cancelled.
The film has also moved off its September 15 U.S. release date and will now launch next spring instead. The movie was due to open Venice but the prospect of debuting without support from its high-profile actors — Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist also star — was understandably deemed less than ideal by the filmmakers, talent and studios MGM and Warner Bros which handle U.S and international, respectively.
Challengers, directed by Luca Guadagnino, was due to screen Out of Competition on Wednesday, August 30, in the Sala Grande, and would have marked a high-profile opening for Venice’s 80th edition.
The festival has chosen Italian WWII movie Comandante by Edoardo de Angelis, starring Pierfrancesco Favino, as a replacement opening film.
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