The 81st Venice Film Festival is set to dazzle cinephiles with an impressive lineup of high-profile films and star-studded casts. Announced by artistic director Alberto Barbera and new president of the Venice Biennale, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, this year’s festival promises a rich mix of genres, established names, and potential discoveries. Headlining the festival is Todd Phillips’ Joker 2: Folie à Deux , the musical sequel to the 2019 hit Joker .
Starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, the film is in the running for the top prize. Another major contender is Luca Guadagnino’s Queer , an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novel featuring Daniel Craig as a heroin-addicted American expat in Mexico.
Drew Starkey co-stars as the object of his obsession. #BiennaleCinema2024 #Venezia81 #Concorso #Competition pic.twitter.
com/7VrKIMT7ke The festival opens with Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , a sequel to his 1988 classic, featuring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Monica Bellucci. Out-of-competition highlights include Jon Watts’ action comedy Wolfs , starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, and Harmony Korine’s thriller Baby Invasion . Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language film, The Room Next Door , stars Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton and is expected to make a significant impact.
The film follows the success of Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers , which won the Best Actress award at Venice for Penélope Cruz. Pablo Larraín returns with Maria , a biopic o.