Zendaya Sexy Love Triangle ‘Challengers’ by Luca Guadagnino Set as Venice Film Festival Opener

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Venice Film Festival will pay tribute to late Italian icon Gina Lollobrigida, who died in January, with a pre-opening event featuring a double bill of freshly restored works in which she stars. The Lido’s annual pre-opening event on Aug. 29 will feature a 27-minute short by Orson Welles titled “Portrait of Gina.” In 1968, Welles interviewed Lollobrigida in her villa on the Appian Way as the pilot for an ABC TV series — a U.S. version of “Around the World With Orson Welles”– that ABC rejected. Welles’ portrait of the diva remained in the vaults until 1986, when it was screened at the Venice Film Festival one year after Orson Welles’ death. This piece has been defined by Welles as a “personal essay” on Lollobrigida. Interestingly, when Lollobrigida saw “Portrait of Gina” in Venice in 1986, she reportedly tried to have it banned. The short’s restoration was done by the Munich Film Museum and Italy’s Cinecittà.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Turkish hit TV series “Magnificent Century,” the Ottoman costume drama that spearheaded the country’s TV boom, has partnered with popular virtual gaming platform The Sandbox, becoming the second global hit series to enter the Sandbox metaverse after “The Walking Dead.”  Produced by TIMS Productions’ founder Timur Savcı, and broadcast in over 140 countries with over 500 million viewers globally, “Magnificent Century” will now be available for game players to create their own experiences using both original and established characters and worlds. Global players will be able to equip their 3D avatars starting from the last quarter of this year.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Federico Fellini’s post-war immigration story “Napoli-New York,” which was penned for the big screen by the famed director but never produced, is set to become a graphic novel written by French comic book writer Jean-David Morvan. Meanwhile, as previously announced, cameras are rolling in Naples on the movie version by Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores. Fellini co-wrote the tale with his frequent collaborator Tullio Pinelli, a writer on the Italian maestro’s “La Dolce Vita” and “8 1/2,” as well as other titles. Turin-based media company Arancia Studio has now attached the prolific Morvan – who has written more than 250 books that have sold millions of copies – for the graphic novel adaptation.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Jane Campion, Laura Poitras, Mia Hansen-Løve and Martin McDonagh are among high-caliber members of the Venice Film Festival’s main jury. The prominent directors, most of whom are Venice regulars – Poitras last year scored the Golden Lion with documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” – will be joined on the Venice jury panel by Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“Wajib”); Chinese star Shu Qi (“The Assassin”); Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, who was at Venice last year with “Freaks Out”; and Argentinian auteur Santiago Mitre whose “Argentina, 1985” also launched from the Lido last year. They will join Damien Chazelle who – as previously announced – will serve as president of the Venice competition jury. 

Venice may have Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” with Zendaya and Josh O’Connor to open the annual soiree on the Liido, but the New York Film Festival is going to kick off with some Cannes gold. Today, the Film Society of Lincoln Center revealed that Todd Haynes’ “May December,” which premiered on la Croisette, will open the 61st edition of the New York Film Festival.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Veteran Swedish star Stellan Skarsgård, who plays villain Baron Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” – part two of which will be released in November – will be honoured by the Locarno Film Festival with its Leopard Club Award. Skarsgård, who started his Hollywood career working with top directors such as StevenSpielberg in “Amistad” (1997) and Gus Van Sant in “Good Will Hunting,” the same year, and segued to memorable roles in Gore Verbinsky’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and in “Mamma Mia!,” among other films. He is being feted by the Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema with its Leopard Club Award dedicated to a film industry artist who has made a “mark on the collective imagination.”

The Venice Film Festival will start with Luca Guadagnino’s sexy sports comedy “Challengers,” featuring Zendaya as a former tennis prodigy turned coach involved in a love triangle with two professional tennis players, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.

After delivering a blisteringly saucy trailer, Luca Guadagnino’s latest film “Challengers” will set the Venice Film Festival ablaze as their opening night film, screening out of competition, TheWrap has confirmed. The film follows Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a successful tennis champ drawn to two men, played by Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor.

Well, it’s official: Variety reports that Luca Guadagnino‘s latest, his tennis love triangle film “Challengers,” will open the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival. No surprise there, as Guada has premiered five of his seven feature films on the Lido.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent For his third edition at the helm, Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro has assembled a wide spectrum of films that “do not resemble each other in terms of tone or form” while reflecting “the world in all its expressions and manifestations,” he tells Variety. This boundless range is best exemplified by the fact that starkly surrealist Filipino arthouse star Lav Díaz’s latest work, “Essential Truths of the Lake,” will be vying for the fest’s Golden Leopard alongside fare that, at least on paper, appears much lighter. This includes U.S. director Bob Byington’s indie comedy “Lousy Carter” and Estonian helmer Rainer Sarnet’s “The Invisible Flight,” which Nazzaro says  “mixes Kung Fu, hard rock and the Orthodox Church.”

The Venice Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Two-time Oscar-winning editor Pietro Scalia will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival with its Vision Award honoring technical achievements and advancements in film. Scalia, who was born in Sicily but grew up in Switzerland and studied film at UCLA, has won Oscars for “JFK” and “Black Hawk Down.” Over the past two decades he’s collaborated closely with top directors such as Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone, Bernardo Bertolucci, Gus Van Sant, Rob Marshall, Sam Raimi and Michael Mann. His recent work includes Mann’s upcoming “Ferrari.” Scalia will receive the Locarno award on Aug. 3 during a ceremony on the Swiss fest’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande, followed on Aug. 4 by an onstage conversation and screenings of two standout titles from his career: “Good Will Hunting” (1997) and “Black Hawk Down” (2001).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Welsh actor Alexander Vlahos, known for his roles in TV series such as “Merlin,” “Outlander” and “Versailles,” is set to play a British ornithologist who, during a field trip to Sicily, gets involved in more than mere birdwatching. Shooting is underway in Sicily on the indie drama “Hearts of Salt,” the first feature by London-based line producer Rosa Russo. The passion project is structured as a three-way co-production between Italy, the U.K. and Tunisia, with shooting also planned in the North African country. Tunisia will serve as a second location besides the Italian island. Though plot details are scarce, “Hearts of Salt” will see Vlahos — who will soon be seen opposite Lindsay Lohan in the Netflix rom-com “Irish Wish” — arrive in Sicily on a mission to study the effects of climate change on bird migrations. However, the ornithologist will soon have to abandon his role as a detached observer of flight patterns in the Sicilian skies after witnessing a series of dramatic events on the ground comprising cultural and generational clashes, a growing disconnect in family and human ties, and the broader ecological crisis which is the overall backdrop against which “Hearts of Salt” is set.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Cate Blanchett and Zar Amir Ebrahimi are set to attend the Locarno Film Festival’s closing night to promote the European launch of Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari’s debut film “Shayda.” Blanchett is an executive producer on the drama, which world premiered at Sundance and scored the Utah festival’s audience award. “Shayda” stars Ebrahimi – who broke out last year as a Cannes prizewinner for her role in “Holy Spider” – as a domestic violence survivor during the ’90s in Australia who demands a free life on her own terms, away from the shadow of her abusive husband. Variety critic Tomris Laffly in her review praised Ebrahimi’s turn in “Shayda” as a “quietly commanding performance” and underlined the film’s “unmistakably feminine spirit of perseverance, one that runs wild and free in this promising debut.”

Zendaya has a new movie coming out. “Challengers” will be released later this year, and is already one of the most talked about films of the year.

Beyoncé and Zendaya attended the star-studded Louis Vuitton fashion show to celebrate Pharrell’s menswear debut after being named the new creative director for the brand. The successful singer took a moment from her incredible Renaissance World Tour and sat front row next to the Emmy winner, who is making headlines for her new role in Luca Guadagnino’s film ‘Challengers.’Fans of the two stars went crazy after a short clip went viral, showing the pair having a sweet moment before the show started.

Zendaya sparked an online frenzy after the first trailer for director Luca Guadagnino’s new film “Challengers” was released.

Challengers, a tennis drama starring Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, has dropped.Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Bones And All) has directed the film, which arrives in US cinemas on September 15.It follows the drama on and off court between former tennis prodigy-turned-coach Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), her husband and failing tennis pro, Art (Faist) and fellow tennis player Patrick (O’Connor), who is Art’s former best friend and Tashi’s ex boyfriend.In the trailer, snippets of Tashi strategising for her husband’s professional redemption are shown, winding up with a match against Patrick. Flashbacks to Tashi, Art and Patrick engaging in a threesome of some description when they were younger are also shown.Meanwhile, in other related news, Zendaya is set to reprise her role as Chani in Dune: Part Two – and the official trailer was released last month.Zendaya, who plays the lead in HBO‘s Euphoria series, also joined the series’ soundtrack star Labrinth onstage at Coachella Festival 2023 in April, making her first live performance in more than eight years.The actress and musician released her self-titled debut album in 2013 ahead of a tour that wrapped in 2015.

Challengers, the latest from Italian director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) offers up romance and intrigue, and allows our girl Z to do what she does best: . Here's everything we know about the new movie:Zendaya plays Tashi, Mike Faist (West Side Story) plays Art and Josh O'Connor (The Crown) plays Patrick, who meet as teens on the tennis circuit. Per , other cast members include Jake Jensen and A.

The tennis world is intense on and off the court.