NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Luca Guadagnino's 鈥淐hallengers,鈥� starring Zendaya, has been pulled from the Venice Film Festival, , due to the .
The R-rated in which Zendaya stars as a tennis coach involved in a love triangle, had been planned to kick off the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 30 before opening in theaters Sept. 15. But with actors striking from working or promoting their films 鈥� including walking any red carpets 鈥� distributor MGM, which is owned by Amazon Studios, will instead open 鈥淐hallengers鈥� in theaters April 26 next year.
鈥淎fter thoughtful consideration with our partners, and given the parameters that SAG-AFTRA has outlined for its membership, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw 鈥楥hallengers鈥� from this year鈥檚 Venice International Film Festival," MGM said in a statement Friday. "We look forward to celebrating the film when we can do so with our ensemble cast, director Luca Guadagnino and the filmmaking team at a later date.鈥�
鈥淐丑补濒濒别苍驳别谤蝉," which co-stars Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist, is the first major fall festival film to drop out due to the ongoing actors and writers strikes. But many in the film industry are anxiously watching how long the strikes drag on and how they might disrupt the major fall film festivals. Venice, followed by the Telluride, Toronto and New York festivals, are hugely important launching pads for fall movies. But their premieres could be muted without stars in attendance.
Venice organizers announced Friday that Edoardo De Angelis's 鈥淐omandante鈥� will instead open the 80th Venice Film Festival next month.
Several films set for release in August have also been delayed due to the strike. A24's 鈥淧roblemista鈥� has been taken off the release schedule. The film, by Julio Torres and starring Tilda Swinton, had been set to open Aug. 24. And Lionsgate is delaying Marc Foster's 鈥淲onder鈥� spinoff 鈥淲hite Bird鈥� from Aug. 18 until later in the year.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
