The Venice Film Festival is serving up one of the year鈥檚 buzzier films as its opening night selection in Luca Guadagnino鈥檚 鈥淐hallengers.鈥� The romantic tennis drama starring Zendaya, 鈥淲est Side Story鈥檚鈥� Mike Faist and 鈥淭he Crown鈥檚鈥� Josh O鈥機onnor will have its world premiere out of competition at the 80th edition of the festival in September, organizers said Thursday.
鈥淐hallengers鈥� stars Zendaya as a tennis prodigy whose past collides with her present when her husband, played by Faist, faces off against a competitor who was once his best friend and her boyfriend. A spicy and suggestive teaser trailer that debuted recently quickly became a popular meme on social media.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a modern bold story of youthful energy, love and power,鈥� Guadagnino said in a statement. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait for the Lido audience to dance across the notes of the soundtrack of Trent (Reznor) and Atticus (Ross) at the opening night of the 80th edition of the Mostra.鈥�
The Italian director has had several films premiere at the festival, including 鈥淏ones and All," which won him the Silver Lion award for directing last year, as well as films like 鈥淎 Bigger Splash鈥� and 鈥淪uspiria.鈥�
As the first major event of the 鈥渇all festival鈥� season, Venice is an important stop for Oscar hopefuls. Last year the festival hosted the premiere of 鈥淭he Whale,鈥� which would go on to win Brendan Fraser best actor, as well as a handful of awards contenders including 鈥淭谩r,鈥� 鈥淭he Banshees of Inisherin,鈥� 鈥淎ll the Beauty and the Bloodshed鈥� and best actress nominee Ana de Armas (鈥淏londe鈥�).
Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera called 鈥淐hallengers鈥� cinema in its purest form.
鈥淟uca Guadagnino is one of the few Italian directors who has always been accustomed to working with both Italian and foreign actresses and actors, getting top results from all of them each time,鈥� Barbera said in a statement. 鈥淕uadagnino sets no limits to his creative energy in this film as he deals with topics such as love, friendship, and male rivalry, and brings to life an enthralling and affecting movie, full of irony, sensuality, and good nature.鈥�
MGM and Amazon Studios will release 鈥淐hallengers鈥� in theaters on Sept. 15.
The full lineup for the Venice Film Festival, which runs from Aug. 30 through Sept. 9, will be announced in late July.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
