Hollywood stars and Netflix are set to take the spotlight Thursday on the second day of the prestigious Venice film festival, with George Clooney, Adam Sandler and Emma Stone preparing for high-profile premieres.
The rainy skies that dampened the red carpet at Wednesday’s opening night of the 11-day festival are forecast to continue, but they aren’t likely to put off eager fans willing to brave the weather for a glimpse of charismatic leading man Clooney.
The actor — who entertained crowds in Venice alongside co-star Brad Pitt at the premiere of “Wolfs” last year — returns to the watery city for the unveiling of the comedy “Jay Kelly” from director Noah Baumbach.
Clooney had little research to do for the role which sees him play a famous Hollywood actor, albeit one going through an identity crisis, with Sandler playing his manager.
The film is the first of three Netflix-produced features at the festival, with the heavy-hitting US streaming giant seen as desperate to find a strong contender for a first Best Picture award at the next Oscars.
Its big hope at this year’s ceremony — “Emilia Perez” — saw its campaign for Academy Award glory derailed by a racism scandal involving leading actor Karla Sofia Gascon.
Having sat out Venice in 2024, the platform has two other productions in the 21-film top competition, “A House of Dynamite” by Oscar-winning thriller specialist Kathryn Bigelow and a star-studded remake of “Frankenstein” by Guillermo del Toro.
Adding to the Tinseltown firepower on Thursday will be “Bugonia” by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos who has teamed up again with Stone, hoping to repeat the successful formula from 2023 when they landed Venice’s top prize for “Poor Things”.
In their latest collaboration, Stone plays a high-powered pharmaceutical executive kidnapped by a pair of conspiracy theorists convinced she is an alien in the zany remake of the South Korean film “Save the Green Planet!” from 2003.
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