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George Clooney and Brad Pitt bring classic Hollywood flair to Venice with the film Wolfs that premiered on Sunday, September 1st.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt electrified the Venice Film Festival, infusing the event with old-school Hollywood charm as they premiered their latest film, Wolfs. Their arrival on the red carpet was nothing short of memorable.
Photo Credit: Alberto Pizzoli / AFP
“The way we banter and go at each other, it just feels effortless,” George Clooney mentioned during a press conference. At 63, the actor kept the atmosphere light with his trademark humor, teasing reporters about his age compared to Brad Pitt’s. “I’m much younger. I know I don’t look it, but trust me, I am,” he quipped, casting a grin towards the 60-year-old Brad Pitt. With a playful jab, George Clooney added, “He’s 74 and should consider himself lucky to still be working at his age,” eliciting laughter from the audience.
In Wolfs, directed by Jon Watts of Spider-Man fame, George Clooney plays a seasoned fixer who’s called to a luxurious penthouse to deal with a rather unusual situation: a dead, half-naked man in the bedroom. “There’s no one else who can do what I do,” George Clooney’s character confidently asserts, until, of course, Brad Pitt’s character shows up, setting the stage for the duo’s on-screen chemistry.
Photo Credit: Alberto Pizzoli / AFP
Dressed in nearly identical black leather jackets, the pair soon realizes their task is far more complicated than expected, involving a mix of city prosecutors, Albanian drug dealers, and even a college student caught in his underwear during a chase through a snow-covered New York.
The film shines brightest in its clever nods to the real-life personas of its stars, from Sade’s Smooth Operator playing in Clooney’s car to a scene where both characters simultaneously reach for their reading glasses to check a pager. The duo’s previous collaborations, including the Coen brothers’ Burn After Reading and the Ocean’s series, have always highlighted their effortless rapport. Reflecting on their past work, George Clooney joked, “In Burn After Reading, I had the pleasure of shooting him in the face, so I thought, why not try it again?”
Brad Pitt, taking a more reflective tone, remarked, “As I get older, I’ve realized how important it is to work with people I genuinely enjoy spending time with.” The film, whose title pays homage to Harvey Keitel’s character in Pulp Fiction, will have a limited theatrical release before it becomes available for streaming on Apple TV+ on September 27.
At the 2024 Venice Film Festival, both Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt presented their new films, although they did not cross paths. According to the festival’s artistic director, Alberto Barbera, Angelina Jolie’s film Maria, a biopic about Maria Callas, premiered on August 29. Angelina Jolie departed immediately after to attend the Telluride Film Festival with director Pablo Larraín. During a press conference, Angelina Jolie reflected on her role as Maria Callas, noting that she deeply related to the opera singer’s vulnerability and emotional openness, qualities she believes they both share. Angelina Jolie’s transformation into Maria Callas in the biopic Maria, focusing on the opera singer’s final days, garnered significant attention, as did Nicole Kidman’s role in Babygirl, a divisive film that seeks to subvert the tired erotic thriller genre.
Photo Credit: Marco Bertorello / AFP
Brad Pitt and George Clooney arrived in Venice on September 1 for the premiere of Wolfs. The scheduling ensured that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt did not encounter each other at the event.
Sunday’s lineup featured Adrien Brody’s return in The Brutalist, a monumental 3.5-hour film exploring the American myth of integration through the journey of a Holocaust-surviving architect. The film made a strong impression and is a contender for the Golden Lion.
Before the awards are announced on September 7, the jury, led by Isabelle Huppert, will also review Pedro Almodóvar’s first American film in English, The Room Next Door, featuring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, and Queer, an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ work starring Daniel Craig in an unexpected role. Additionally, Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the first Joker film, which won the Golden Lion five years ago, remains highly anticipated, especially with Lady Gaga in the cast.
With AFP
