MILAN — Recharge your energies and have a relaxing summer holiday because the cinematographic back-to-school and return to red carpet events is shaping up to be intense.
As organizers of the 81st Venice International Film Festival unveiled the event’s program on Tuesday, both movie fans and fashion lovers were left with high expectations for the upcoming edition, which will run Aug. 28 to Sept. 7.
Leading directors ranging from Tim Burton and Pedro Almodóvar to Todd Phillips and Luca Guadagnino are all slated to touch base at Venice’s landmark Lido flanked by the respective star-packed casts and more, which include major names such as Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, Michael Keaton and Monica Bellucci, to cite a few.
As revealed earlier this week, the event will open with the world premiere of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” the long-awaited sequel to one of Burton’s most renowned works. Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara will reprise their original roles and be joined by new cast members, including Burton’s current partner Bellucci; Justin Theroux; Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe. Incidentally, Dafoe will become more and more a regular in Venice, as the actor was recently named the new artistic director of the theater department of the Venice Biennale for the 2025-26 term.
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Burton’s new movie, which will be presented out of competition in Venice and will hit theaters in North America on Sept. 6, also counts Pitt among its executive producers. The American actor also might land in Venice for his key role in the out-of-competition movie “Wolfs” by the “Spider-Man” saga director Jon Watts, in which Pitt costars with longtime pal Clooney.
Meanwhile, Pitt’s former wife Jolie is expected to attend the premiere of “Maria,” the biopic about Maria Callas directed by Pablo Larraín in which she interprets the iconic opera singer in her final years spent in Paris.
The film will be among the 21 titles competing at the festival, running against other major motion pictures. These include “Joker: Folie À Deux,” the much-awaited psychological thriller directed by Todd Phillips that will see Phoenix reprise the titular role that earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2020. For this sequel, Phoenix will be joined by Lady Gaga, who will interpret his character’s love interest Harley Quinn. The actress is likely to serve up one of the event’s biggest fashion moments, following in the footsteps of her Venice Film Festival attendance in 2018, when she arrived at the premiere of “A Star is Born” in a show-stopping organza Valentino haute couture gown covered in pink feathers.
While is yet to be known which designer she will pick for her return to the Venice red carpet, she is set to face some serious competition fashion-wise from Swinton and Moore. The actresses lead the cast of another major movie competing at the festival, “The Room Next Door,” which will mark Almodóvar’s English-language full-length debut.
While Chanel and Bottega Veneta looks might pop up in the fashion crystal ball, as Swinton and Moore have proved their affection for these brands, respectively, it is highly likely that a Loewe outfit will also appear somewhere on the red carpet. To be sure, Daniel Craig, who earlier this month was revealed as the star of the viral Loewe fall 2024 men’s advertising campaign, is the lead actor in “Queer,” the new movie directed by Guadagnino — also a friend of Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson‘s.
Based on the 1985 novel by William S. Burroughs, the historical romance drama set in 1940s Mexico City is billed as one of Guadagnino’s most intimate projects. It is expected to shed new light on Craig’s acting prowess, as he will move past his longtime role as British secret service agent James Bond to interpret an outcast American expat who becomes infatuated with a younger man, played by Drew Starkey. Incidentally, during the festival, Guadagnino will have double duties as he will also curate the artistic direction of the Homo Faber artisan exhibition running in Venice from Sept. 1 to 30, as reported.
Other names expected in Venice will include Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult, who costar in the movie “The Order” by Justin Kurzel, as well as the cast of “The Brutalist,” featuring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn and Guy Pearce.
These will add to the stars of out-of-competition series “Disclaimer” directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who include Venice Film Festival regular Cate Blanchett flanked by Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, Indira Varma, Louis Partridge and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
French actress Isabelle Huppert is also awaited at the Lido, as she will chair the international jury that will select and hand out the awards at the closing ceremony, including the Golden Lion for best film that last year went to “Poor Things” by Yorgos Lanthimos. Revealed earlier this month, this edition’s jury will be comprised of eight other international personalities, including directors James Gray, Andrew Haigh and Giuseppe Tornatore, as well as Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.
Side fashion events are expected to add to the busy agendas of movie stars and directors. Miu Miu usually stages conversations with actors to flank the screening of the latest installment of its Women’s Tales project of short films, while the likes of the festival’s long-time sponsor Armani Beauty and Chanel have set a tradition for hosting glamourous gatherings after dusk.
Representation from the music world won’t be lacking either. As reported, Grammy Award-winning singer Kelly Rowland is headed to the lagoon to perform at the annual Venice amfAR gala, to be held at the Hangar Nicelli venue on Sept 1.
