Guillermo Del Toro, Agnieszka Holland, Park Chan-Wook Headed to Venice

Thanks to Juneteenth being a federal holiday, it’s a quiet day on the film front, but that makes it the perfect moment to turn attention to Venice—just over two months out, and already starting to take shape in a big way.

Buzz around the Lido is building. If early whispers are any indication, this could be one of the festival’s most stacked editions in recent memory: a heady blend of auteur-driven prestige, major studio showcases, and a few long-overdue streaming comebacks.

One title I can confirm for competition is Agnieszka Holland’s “Franz,” a Kafka biopic starring Idan Weiss. Holland’s “Green Border” bowed on the Lido in 2023 to critical acclaim, and she’s clearly keeping her Venice streak alive.

I’m also hearing that Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited “Frankenstein” has locked its TIFF premiere, which all but guarantees a Venice launch as well—unlike “Pinocchio,” this one won’t be bypassing the September/October fall circuit.

Another hot ticket: Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice.” Originally eyed for Cannes but not quite ready in time, it’s now locked for a world premiere at Venice. Park is traditionally a Cannes guy, but this shift is a major coup for Alberto Barbera.

Netflix, notably absent from Venice last year, appears to be mounting a return. Edward Berger’s “The Ballad of a Small Player,” starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton, is getting serious traction. After his last two features couldn’t crack the lineup, this one seems nearly inevitable.

Then there are the no-brainers: Yorgos Lanthimos brings “Bugonia,” a reunion with Emma Stone and the addition of Jesse Plemons. After “Poor Things,” he’s all but Venice royalty. Luca Guadagnino also returns to home turf with “After the Hunt,” a high-profile crime drama from Amazon MGM featuring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Chloë Sevigny—an obvious pick for the Lido.

As for Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind,” there was a recent tweet from theologian philosopher Steven DeLay claiming it was headed to Venice. As with all things related to Malick’s opus, take it with a grain of salt — last I heard, it was still in the editing room.

Finally, no news as to where Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” will land. It will certainly be at a film festival, and TIFF is no doubt trying hard to get the world premiere. Ditto Venice. It’s very hard to tell who will win the PTA sweepstakes.

Here’s a running list of titles currently circling the festival:

After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino)
One Battle After Another (PT Anderson)
A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)
Jay Kelly (Noah Baumbach)
The Way of the Wind (Terrence Malick)
Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos)
The Smashing Machine (Benny Safdie)
No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook)
Father Mother Brother Sister (Jim Jarmusch)
The Ballad of A Small Player (Edward Berger)
The Cry of the Guards (Claire Denis)
Chocobar (Lucrecia Martel)
Sacrifice (Romain Gavras)
In the Hands of Dante (Julian Schnabel)
Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold)
Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)
La Grazia (Paolo Sorrentino)
An Affair (Arnaud Desplechin)
Orphan (Laszlo Nemes)
The Wizard of Kremlin (Olivier Assayas)
Franz (Agnieszka Holland)
Below the Clouds (Gianfranco Rosi)
Duse (Pietro Marcello)
Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro)
Couture (Alice Wincour)

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

Hamnet (Chloe Zhao)
Rosebush Pruning (Karim Ainouz)
At the Sea (Kornel Mundruczo)
& Sons (Pablo Trapero)
The Lost Bus (Paul Greengrass)
Tre Ciotole (Isabel Coixet)
Anemone (Ronan Day-Lewis)
Is This Thing On? (Bradley Cooper)
Dry Leaf (Alexandre Kobirodze)
Silent Friend (Ildiko Enyedi)
Yellow Letters (Ilker Catak)
Call Me Queen (Emily Catef)
Caught Stealing (Darren Aronofsky)
I Want Your Sex (Gregg Araki)
The Drama (Kristoffer Borgli)
Mektoub, Canto Duo (Abdelatif Kechiche)