Safdie, Baumbach, Berger, Guadagnino and Lanthimos Tipped for Venice

We’re only halfway through Cannes, but chatter has already shifted to what might surface on the Lido later this year. The Venice Film Festival is quietly shaping up to be one of its strongest lineups in recent memory, with major auteur titles and star-studded vehicles being floated for world premieres.

Screen is reporting that Benny Safdie’s long-anticipated “The Smashing Machine” is one to watch — the A24 project, starring Dwayne Johnson as troubled MMA legend Mark Kerr, alongside Emily Blunt, is deep in post and has Venice written all over it. Meanwhile, sources say Netflix might be back after sitting out a quiet 2024 showing. Edward Berger’s “The Ballad of a Small Player,” set in Macau and starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton, is looking like a strong contender.

Focus Features has two big titles in the mix: Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” which reunites him with Emma Stone, alongside Jesse Plemons. While “Hamnet” has a late-November release date stateside, the prestige factor could still make it a festival launch title. Lanthimos, hot off “Poor Things,” is expected to return to the Lido where his films have routinely debuted.

Elsewhere, Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” a crime drama starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Chloë Sevigny for Amazon MGM, could bring the Italian auteur back to home turf following last year’s Queer. Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” (with Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver) skipped Cannes — a surprise omission that now has insiders pointing to Venice. Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz’s thriller “Rosebushpruning,” starring Elle Fanning, Riley Keough and Pamela Anderson, is also rumored to be on the cards.

In terms of stars, few projects rival Romain Gavras’ English-language debut “Sacrifice,” which boasts a cast that includes Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Salma Hayek Pinault, and Charli XCX. Alice Winocour may also be Lido-bound with “Couture,” a drama set in the fashion world starring Angelina Jolie, while Laszlo Nemes (Son of Saul) is back with the period drama “Orphan.”

South Korean master Park Chan-wook is said to have completed “No Other Choice,” a darkly comic thriller that would mark 20 years since Lady Vengeance played in Competition. Word is, it wasn’t ready for Cannes but should be locked for Venice. Also in contention: Daniel Day-Lewis’s return to acting in “Anemone,” directed by his son Ronan and set to be released by Focus Features in October.

Other possibilities include Ilker Çatak’s “Yellow Letters,” the follow-up to “The Teachers’ Lounge”; Emily Atef’s “Call Me Queen”; Nanouk Leopold’s Irish-shot “Whitetail”; and Dara Van Dusen’s Western “A Prayer for the Dying,” starring John C. Reilly and Johnny Flynn. And then there’s the wild card: Lucrecia Martel’s long-rumored documentary on Indigenous activist Javier Chocobar may finally be ready. We’re told it’s very quietly being considered for Venice.

As for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” I’m hearing PTA’s distaste for festivals is playing a major role in how the film might be unveiled. It could either entirely skip the fall fests, or opt for an audience friendly screening at TIFF, just a few weeks before its relese.

These are my first predictions for Venice, and they are very preliminary considering I only have three Italian directors in there — Venice head Alberto Barbera tends to include 5-6 every year.

“After the Hunt” (Luca Guadagnino)
“Ballad of a Small Player” (Edward Berger)
“Couture” (Alice Wincour)
“Jay Kelly” (Noah Baumbach)
“Caught Stealing” (Darren Aronofsky)
“Bugonia” (Yorgos Lanthimos)
“The Smashing Machine”) Benny Safdie
“Father Mother Brother Sister” (Jim Jarmusch)
“Sacrifice” (Romain Gavras)
“In the Hands of Dante” (Julian Schnabel)
“Ann Lee” (Mona Fastvold)
“No Other Choice” (Park Chan-wook)
“Orphan” (Laszlo Nemes)
“The Wizard of Kremlin” (Olivier Assayas)
“Franz” (Agnieszka Holland)
“The Cry of the Guards” (Claire Denis)
“Chocobar” (Lucrecia Martel)
“Mektoub, Canto Duo” (Abdelatif Kechiche)
“Hamnet” (Chloe Zhao)
“El Ser Querido” (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
“Duse” (Pietro Marcello))
“Below the Clouds” (Gianfranco Rosi)