By Crispian Balmer
ROME, July 23 (Reuters) – Hollywood is taking a step back at this year’s Venice film festival, with organisers on Thursday unveiling a more independent-minded line-up that promotes auteur cinema over the studio-heavy rosters of recent editions.
But even if the big U.S. producers have decided to steer clear of the Lagoon city, just as they did at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Venice looks set to retain its place as one of the industry’s premier celebrity showcases.
A roster of A-listers, including George Clooney, Robert Pattinson, John Malkovich, Penelope Cruz and Rooney Mara, is expected to take to Venice’s red carpet, while Liam and Noel Gallagher will bring some rock-and-roll to the world’s oldest film festival to launch a documentary about their group Oasis.
The 2026 programme includes new films from a clutch of high-profile directors, including Martin McDonagh, Florian Zeller, Danny Boyle, Werner Herzog and Hirokazu Kore-eda who will be vying for the Golden Lion Award at the September 2 to 12 event.
RECORD ENTRIES EVEN AS MAJOR STUDIOS STAY HOME
Festival director Alberto Barbera made no mention of this year’s almost imperceptible Hollywood footprint, but said his team had sifted through a record 4,500 entries, showing that cinema remained an enduring cultural force around the world.
“I do not believe there is another artistic and expressive form capable of performing an aesthetic, cultural and social function as powerful and enthralling as cinema,” he said.
Major U.S. studios and streamers such as Netflix had previously flocked to Europe’s top festivals, but tighter budgets and production slowdowns have curbed their enthusiasm. Insiders have said they are also wary of the sort of savage reviews that sunk the “Joker” sequel at Venice in 2024.
Irish filmmaker McDonagh appears to have no such fears.
His last two movies, including the hit “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”, debuted at the festival and he is returning with his latest picture, “Wild Horse Nine,” a dark comedy starring Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey.
Other starry titles include festival-opener “Ink” by British director Boyle, which features Guy Pearce as media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and Zeller’s thriller “Bunker”, which brings together husband-and-wife team Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
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Also likely to draw attention are Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” starring sisters Rooney Mara and Kate Mara, Casey Affleck’s third movie as director, the gothic mystery “Company”, and Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime”, which sees Pattinson play a journalist drawn into a criminal underworld.
Just one of the 20 films in competition is directed by a woman, May El-Toukhy, who will be premiering her Danish drama “Woman Unknown”.
Outside the main competition, Venice will add a dose of rock nostalgia with the world premiere of “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” a documentary about the Gallagher brothers’ often stormy relationship, and their sellout 2025 reunion tour.
Actor Russell Crowe will also be showing his music documentary “What Love Builds”, while Alex Gibney will present an almost four-hour-long film about U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Another documentary, “Be Brave” by Italy’s Francesco Carrozzini, tells the story of Renzo Rosso, the founder of fashion group Diesel, and was made almost entirely using artificial intelligence.
The jury for the main competition will be chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who will also present her latest short film “Flash Impact”, about the myth surrounding Marilyn Monroe. It stars Ellen Burstyn, who will be receiving a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, as will actor-producer George Clooney.
(Reporting by Crispian BalmerEditing by Keith Weir)
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