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Zendaya's Sultry Love Triangle Film Yanked From Venice Due to Strike
Challengers was removed from the Venice Film Festival, and its release date has been delayed to 2024.
Fans will have to wait a little longer for this one.
Zendaya’s upcoming R-rated tennis drama Challengers was slated to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month, but has since been pulled amid the SAG-AFTRA strike.
The film was set to open in Venice. However, the studio likely feels like it wasn't worth it without the movie's high-profile stars walking the red carpet.
The film’s US theatrical release has also been bumped from September 15, 2023 to a new date: April 26, 2024.
Helmed by gay director Luca Guadagnino, Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a tennis prodigy-turned-coach who had a complicated and steamy love triangle with two friends when she was young. Now she is married to one of the friends – former champion (Mike Faist) – who is on a losing streak. Tashi’s quest to rehab her husband’s career takes a turn when he has to compete against the other part of their sexy triangle (Josh O’Connor).
Challengers was set to screen Out of Competition on Wednesday, August 30, but the festival has picked the Italian WWII movie Comandante by Edoardo de Angelis to replace it as its opening film.
Films usually expect a buzzy introduction to the world at Venice, but the actor’s strike has thrown the festival in disarray as American films are postponed. With the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers seemingly unwilling to negotiate with either the actors' or writers' unions, it seems likely that more and more films will suffer a similar fate as Challengers.
Zendaya's also stars in Dune Part Two which is currently scheduled to open on Nov. 3, but may be pushed if the strike is not resolved soon. Lionsgate announced Thursday that it was pushing several titles, including its Dirty Dancing sequel.
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Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
