Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Challengers’ Exits Venice: Fest Will Open with ‘Comandante’ Instead

Samantha Bergeson
·3 min read
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The challenge of promoting “Challengers” during the SAG-AFTRA strike has upended its planned fall rollout.

Director Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” will no longer be making its world premiere for the opening night of the 2023 Venice Film Festival. The film, which stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, was previously announced to be screening out of competition August 30 to kick off the 80th annual festival.

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Instead, the festival will open with “Comandante,” directed by Edoardo De Angelis, instead, the festival announced on Friday. “‘Challengers,’ the movie by Luca Guadagnino that had previously been announced, will not participate at the Festival following a decision made by the production,” Venice representatives said in a statement.

In a statement provided to IndieWire, Amazon said, “After 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 ‘Challengers’ from this year’s Venice International Film Festival. 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.”

IndieWire has confirmed that the film has also now been moved to an April 26, 2024 release date.

“In the frame of period films, on which Italian cinema has invested considerable production resources, Edoardo De Angelis’ movie reverberates with unambiguously contemporary echoes,” said Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera. “The true story of Commander Salvatore Todaro, who saved the lives of enemy sailors who had survived the sinking of their merchant ship – endangering the safety of his own submarine and his men – is a powerful call for the need to place the values of ethics and human solidarity before the brutal logic of military protocol. I thank the author, the producers Nicola Giuliano and Pier Paolo Verga, and Paolo Del Brocco with Rai Cinema for having accepted our invitation to inaugurate the 80th Film Festival of the Biennale di Venezia.”

Meanwhile, the sultry film “Challengers” follows Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), a tennis prodigy-turned-coach who oversees her husband Art’s (Faist) career. But when Art winds up on a losing streak, he is forced to play against his childhood best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend (O’Connor), igniting a tense love triangle with queer undertones. The film is written by Justin Kuritzkes and produced by Zendaya and Guadagnino, as well as Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor.

The shifting “Challengers” premiere date was first reported by Puck, which alleged that Guadagnino was interested in delaying the rollout of the film as lead star Zendaya could not promote it amid the strike. Zendaya allegedly received a $10 million salary for the film, which was in part due to her red carpet presence and social media following.

“I am so thrilled for audiences to experience my new film ‘Challengers’ at the Venice Film Festival. It’s a modern bold story of youthful energy, love, and power,” Guadagnino said in a press statement (via Deadline) upon the announcement the film would debut at Venice. “Zendaya, Josh, and Mike are totally original and fresh, bringing a new energy like you’ve never seen before. I can’t 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. As a filmmaker, it is a dream come true and I am grateful to Alberto and the whole Venice family for this wonderful recognition for the film.”

Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” premiered at the festival last year. The auteur previously revealed that the “Challengers” cast trained for three months with former professional tennis player Brad Gilbert, who served as a consultant on the film.

“I think those three characters in that movie are beautifully complex and really fucked-up people that I love very much. And a sports film, why not?,” the Oscar winner previously told IndieWire. “It’s hyperkinetic, and I do films, so it’s great.”

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