Mike Leigh’s ‘Tender Loving Care’ Skipped Venice After Offered Out-of-Competition Slot

Let’s tackle the notable absences from yesterday’s Venice lineup…

We already knew David Fincher’s ‘Cliff Booth’ wouldn’t be there—it simply wasn’t ready. Post-production had to briefly stop on the film due to personal issues, but the picture should be locked by October.

Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning” is also in no way, shape, or form ready. There were reshoots this month with Mikey Madison, and there will be additional reshoots in August with some of the other leads. The film will likely skip every festival.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Digger” is also entirely skipping festivals, mostly because Warner Bros. wants to replicate what it did last year with “One Battle After Another.” We’ll see how that works out for them in 2026. I think the film could have probably benefited from a TIFF bow, at least, where audiences are friendlier than most.

Then there’s Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!” starring Pedro Pascal, which was not submitted to Venice. Maybe it shows up at Telluride?

I’m also hearing Mike Leigh’s “Tender Loving Care” was actually rejected from the Venice Competition and instead offered an out-of-competition slot. That seemed to be the path the film was set to take, but in the final days before Venice was due to announce its lineup, Leigh declined the invitation and decided to go the Telluride/TIFF/NYFF route instead.

More: If you remember, Leigh’s “Hard Truths” had also been rejected by Venice in 2024, as well as Cannes, and the filmmaker wasn’t shy about saying so during the film’s press run.

As for Andrew Haigh’s “The Long Winter,” which is now also eyeing a Telluride world premiere, it was actually in the Venice Competition lineup until the very last moment. However, scheduling conflicts with Telluride—which requires a film to screen during the opening days of Venice—led Haigh to withdraw the film. It’s a major loss for festival director Alberto Barbera, as this is a film that will play throughout the fall festival season, and missing out on its world premiere must have stung.