Roughly a month before Venice Film Festival‘s 2023 lineup announcement, the buzz around the competition is heating up with several star-studded films by heavyweight directors in the mix, including Pablo Larrain (“El Conde”), Michael Mann (“Ferrari“), Sofia Coppola (“Priscilla“), Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”) and Michel Franco (“Memory”).
These titles are believed to have been officially invited to the Lido in competition, according to sources.
Larraín’s follow-up to “Spencer,” “El Conde” depicts dictator Augusto Pinochet as a Vampire with a cast led by Chilean star Alfredo Castro.
Another film with a genre element, Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” is a surrealist science-fiction romance based on an adaptation of Alasdair Grey’s novel of the same name, and starring Emma Stone as Belle Baxter, a Frankenstein-like woman who is brought back to life after her brain is replaced with that of her unborn child. Stone stars opposite Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley.
“Ferrari,” meanwhile, stars Adam Driver as Italian racecar driver Enzo Ferrari. The A-list cast also includes Penélope Cruz as Ferrari’s wife Laura Ferrari; Shailene Woodley as his mistress Lina Lardi; Patrick Dempsey as fellow racecar driver Piero Taruffi; and Jack O’Connell as racer Peter Collins.
Coppola’s biopic “Priscilla” is an A24 film based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me.” The biographical film follows her life and relationship with the King of Rock ‘n Roll. Cailee Spaeny (“Mare of Easttown,” “Bad Times at the El Royale”) stars as Priscilla, with Jacob Elordi (“Euphoria,” “The Kissing Booth”) as Elvis Presley.
Franco’s “Memory” stars Jessica Chastain, in her first role since her Oscar-winning performance in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” and Peter Sarsgaard. The English-language project, whose plot is under wraps, shot in New York City.
Although three of Franco’s films have played at Cannes, his 2020 film “New Order” won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at Venice.
As previously reported, Luca Guadagnino is also due to turn up at the festival with “Challengers,” a tennis drama starring Zendaya, but it won’t be competing.
Venice has also invited Woody Allen’s French film debut “Coup de chance” out of competition. The movie has been described by the controversial filmmaker as a “poisonous romantic thriller in the vein of ‘Match Point.’” “Coup de chance” shot in Paris with a popular French cast including Valerie Lemercier (“Aline”), Niels Schneider (“Love Affair(s),” Lou de Laage (The Mad Women’s Ball”), Elsa Zylberstein (“Simone”) and Melvil Poupaud (“One Fine Morning”). While Allen has lost all major support due to the resurfacing of abuse allegation involving his daughter Dylan, he was able to raise financing for the film and lure a French distributor, Metropolitan FilmExport, as well as a sales agent, London-based WestEnd.
Also expected on the Lido is Luc Besson with “DogMan,” a drama starring Caleb Landry Jones which will mark his directorial comeback since his 2019 thriller “Anna.” Landry Jones, who won best actor at Cannes with “Nitram,” plays Douglas, a man who was abused as a child by his violent father and viciously thrown to dogs. Instead of attacking him, the dogs came to protect him and became his allies. “DogMan” has been invited out of competition and could be upgraded to the competition later on. On Wednesday, the French director was cleared of all charges in the rape case involving Belgian-Dutch actor Sand Van Roy.
Other films in the pipeline include “The Theory of Everything,” German helmer Tim Kroger’s black-and-white Hitchcockian film which is strongly tipped for the competition.
Nick Vivarelli contributed to this report.
