The strike by actors in North America is now having an impact on the opening of the Venice Film Festival. The US film “Challengers”, which was actually intended as the opening film, will be replaced by “Comandante” by director Edoardo De Angelis, the organizers announced on Friday. “Challengers” by Luca Guadagnino with star actress Zendaya “will not take part in the festival due to a production decision,” it said. The 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival starts at the end of August.
According to US media, the opening date for the tennis romance drama has been pushed back to 2024, even though it was already filmed. The reason for this is that the producers of “Challengers” fear that the film could be less successful without the active marketing work of Zendaya, which has over 180 million Instagram followers. Because of the SAG-AFTRA strikes in the US and Canada, Zendaya is not allowed to promote her film or perform in Venice. The same applies to actors Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, who also took part in the film.
Actors and actresses have been on strike in North America since last week. The screenwriters are also on strike – it is the first double strike in more than 60 years. Among other things, this involves disputes about remuneration and the use of artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA has 160,000 members. Filming is likely to be idle across the country indefinitely.
