We’re around six weeks away from the 83rd Venice Film Festival lineup reveal, and some titles are starting to emerge as contenders. Variety’s Nick Vivarelli and Elsa Keslassy have the goods in their just-published spitballing report.
They are all but confirming Florian Zeller’s “Bunker,” starring Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz; Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” Nanni Moretti’s “It Will Happen Tonight,” and Andrea Pallaoro’s “The Echo Chamber,” starring Alicia Vikander and Luca Marinelli, and featuring Susan Sarandon.
That said, the report emphasizes that, much like at Cannes, Venice 2026 might not have that many Hollywood titles. A combination of studios’ “growing reluctance to spend heavily on festival premieres, production delays affecting several anticipated U.S. films, and probable PTSD from “Joker 2” getting panned.”
More pertinently, we should also scratch off David Fincher’s “The Adventures of Cliff Booth” and Tom Ford’s “Cry to Heaven,” both of which will not be ready on time. Ford’s film wrapped in March, and might not be ready on time. Fincher is just being Fincher — he wrapped in December 2025, but will likely be taking his time in the editing room. ‘Cliff Booth’ is only supposed to release in late November.
That said, Venice director Alberto Barbera is not giving up. Fernando Meirelles’ “Here Comes the Flood,” a Netflix heist thriller starring Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Daisy Edgar-Jones, will be at the festival. Barbera is also reportedly seeing Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning” very soon, with talks of a premiere on the Lido underway with Sony. But will it be worthy of competition?
This year, films that failed to make Cannes but are Venice-bound include Stéphane Brizé’s “A Good Little Soldier,” and Cédric Kahn’s “15/18” — those two have already been accepted by Alberto Barbera.
Curiously, Variety does not mention many films originally tipped to premiere on the Lido, and maybe that’s because they just couldn’t confirm them. Among the filmmakers still expected would be Mike Leigh, Lee Chang-dong, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Paul Schrader, and Andrew Haigh.
Based on Variety’s intel and other sources, this is how the current picture looks for Venice 2026.
VENICE COMPETITION CONTENDERS
Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)
Here Comes the Flood (Fernando Mereilles)
Tender Loving Care (Mike Leigh)
Possible Love (Lee Chang-Dong)
Wild Horse Nine (Martin McDonagh)
DAU: Mother (Ilya Khrzhanovsky)
Look Back (Hirokazu Koreeda)
The Basics of Philosophy (Paul Schrader)
A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)
Circles (Michel Franco)
Trick (Mario Martone)
15/18 (Cedric Kahn)
Bunker (Florian Zeller)
A Good Little Soldier (Stephane Brizé)
Cabula (Lila Aviles)
The Social Reckoning (Aaron Sorkin)
A Talent For Murder (Anton Corbijn)
It Will Happen Tonight (Nanni Moretti)
Mimesis (Kaouther Ben Hania)
Après (Kirill Serebrenikko)
The Echo Chamber (Andrea Pallaoro)
Let Love In (Felix Van Groeningen)
MORE …
Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
Après (Kirill Serebrenikko)
Elon (Alex Gibney)
Ang Kawalan (Lav Diaz)
Dr. Albertini’s Office (Emmanuel Mouret)
Leila Et La Nuit (Fellipe Barbosa)
Chork (Shane Meadows)
At the Middle of Life (Hong Sang-soo)
A Woman Unknown (May el-Toukhy)
The First Taste of Loneliness (Gu You)
Bianco (Daniele Vicari)
Bad Lieutenant (Takashi Miike)
Peaches (Jenny Suen)
I’m Still Alive (Roberto Saviano)
My Notes on Mars (Lily Horvat)
Une Autre Histoire (Mikhael Hers)
The Idiots (Malgorzata Szumowska & Michal Englert)
No Pain (Gianni Amelio)
The 84th edition of Venice will run Sept. 2-12.
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.