{"id":954699,"date":"2026-07-23T20:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/954699\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T20:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:09:17","slug":"venice-chief-alberto-barbera-on-robert-pattinson-lack-of-studio-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/954699\/","title":{"rendered":"Venice Chief Alberto Barbera on Robert Pattinson, Lack of Studio Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tVenice Film Festival<\/a> chief Alberto Barbera<\/a> has pulled off a pretty impressive feat this year by assembling a buzzy lineup<\/a> with boatloads of stars set to disembark on the Lido, despite having less movies from the U.S. studios and streamers at his disposal.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey include new projects from top international directors<\/a>, including Martin McDonagh, Florian Zeller, Danny Boyle, Werner Herzog, Lance Oppenheim, Nanni Moretti, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Lee Chang-dong, plus the world premiere of Oasis reunion doc \u201cDon\u2019t Look Back in Anger,\u201d with British brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher in tow.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter announcing his mouth-watering selection, Barbera spoke to Variety about the changing studio ecosystem and how it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that festivals will be left out of the equation going forward.<\/p>\n

\t\t What\u2019s your explanation for the dearth of films from U.S. studios and streamers? Have they gone cold on Venice and festivals in general?<\/strong>\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWe shouldn\u2019t jump to hasty conclusions that could be misleading. Let\u2019s stick to the facts. Look closely, at all the attempted predictions made in recent months regarding the films that could land in Venice. There were few Hollywood films listed in the predictions because the truth is that there just aren\u2019t any. The problem is that they aren\u2019t there. The studios are in such a state of stalemate, struggling and redefining themselves by merging. Or in any case, experiencing an identity crisis, that auteur films usually destined for festivals just aren\u2019t there. It\u2019s not because they don\u2019t want to come to our festival. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe only film that could have \u2014 and this was a marketing choice made by Warner Bros., we can\u2019t do anything about it \u2014 is Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s \u201cDigger\u201d with Tom Cruise. They announced months ago that they were bypassing all the fall festivals to release it directly in theaters. That is a marketing choice that, I believe, is less linked to the concern of the negative impact a festival can have. It\u2019s just that I believe that film is so powerful and beautiful that this concern does not exist on anyone\u2019s part. But that it is a marketing choice.<\/p>\n

\t\tSo what is the problem?<\/strong>\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe real problem for everyone \u2014 and for the studios in particular \u2014 today is figuring out how to promote films. The real problem is that a whole series of tools used until yesterday no longer exist. They are no longer functional. They have been proven ineffective. But we still haven\u2019t figured out what new tools to use to promote films. So in some cases, someone says, \u201cI\u2019ll throw that movie straight into theaters and, with this surprise effect, I hope to make it big.\u201d Right? Or, if you\u2019re Christopher Nolan, you create anticipation that lasts for months and then the result is automatic, you know? But in our case, the other few films that had been sort of pre-announced, they weren\u2019t ready. <\/p>\n

\n\tWe recently read that [Aaron] Sorkin\u2019s film \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d was shooting some scenes in early August, and therefore there wasn\u2019t actually time to complete the film. David Fincher\u2019s film [\u201cThe Adventures of Cliff Booth\u201d], which at one point seemed to be a sure thing, had to interrupt production due to family and personal issues, so the film is not finished. Maybe it will be completed in a month. But it is precisely that unforeseeable, unexpected and unwanted delay that means the film is not ready in time. Do you know of any other Hollywood movies?<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat about \u201cDune 3\u201d?<\/strong>\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s releasing at Christmas, and it isn\u2019t ready. I\u2019ve spoken to Denis [Villeneuve] several times and he told me, \u201cWe\u2019re in full swing, in full production, with a huge amount of special effects. We\u2019ll be ready right around the release date.\u201d So the problem is that the films are not here. To draw the conclusion that the studios\u2019 attitude toward festivals has radically changed is wrong, because that\u2019s not necessarily the case. It\u2019s a contingency factor, the future of which we can\u2019t predict. We don\u2019t know if next year \u2014 which on paper seems to be much richer in interesting and promising [studio] films \u2014 will translate into a refusal to participate in festivals. Or if, instead, we will see a return to using festivals as platforms to promote films. That\u2019s impossible to know at this time. But I\u2019d be very cautious about jumping to conclusions. It\u2019s not true because when the films are there, they come. Right?<\/p>\n

\t\tWell, that turned out to be the case with A24, who are sending Robert Pattinson-starrer \u201cPrimetime\u201d to Venice even after their film \u201cSmashing Machine\u201d flopped mightily after launching from Venice last year. <\/strong>\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, the case of \u201cSmashing Machine\u201d was pretty problematic, because it\u2019s a film that had enormous potential. Why didn\u2019t it work? Who knows? Maybe the film\u2019s positioning and marketing strategy were flawed. There were many reasons why that film didn\u2019t work, when it actually had all the elements it needed to work. But all you have to do is realize that it\u2019s not the festival\u2019s fault if the film didn\u2019t produce the box office results one might have hoped for. And in the case of \u201cPrimetime,\u201d they are only doing Venice, so they must believe in us.<\/p>\n

\t\t\u201cPrimetime\u201d was not on our radar. How did you intercept it?<\/strong>\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019d been in contact with [director] Lance Oppenheim since the outset. Initially, it didn\u2019t seem like there would be any difficulties in having it at our festival, until the last minute. Then, in reality, there was some uncertainty about whether it might be available, simply because Pattinson is shooting a film in London, so there was a risk he might not be available. And without Pattinson, promoting an ambitious film is more difficult. So, in reality, I think this is the last film we got confirmed. We saw it very, very late. It was one of the last films we saw. After we saw it, Pattinson confirmed he could come to Venice. He didn\u2019t think twice. He immediately said, \u201cSure, we\u2019ll come and do all the promotion that the film deserves in Venice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tThe studios actually are in Venice, since Disney is behind the Oasis reunion doc \u201cDon\u2019t Look Back in Anger,\u201d for which Liam and Noel Gallagher expected to come. How did you land that?<\/strong>\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThat too is a film that, frankly, wasn\u2019t on anyone\u2019s radar. Not even ours. They told us about it at the beginning of June. And we obviously invited it immediately, because it\u2019s a great musical film. We were all speechless. And the Gallagher brothers are very happy to come and have confirmed that they want to present the film. But there is another film from the studios that is Martin McDonagh\u2019s \u201cWild Horse Nine,\u201d from Searchlight Pictures. I have to say they are very loyal towards Venice and have always have been. And this film was planned to come to Venice from the outset. So on the one hand, it\u2019s not true that the studios are not there. And on the other hand, the fact that some sat this year out, I don\u2019t believe it\u2019s a choice that compromises the relationship for the future in the years to come.<\/p>\n

\t\tThere is only one woman, May El-Toukhy<\/strong>, in competition this year? Why? Isn\u2019t Venice striving for gender parity?<\/strong>\t<\/p>\n

\n\tShe\u2019s the only one we found of adequate quality to compete internationally. I don\u2019t think we can be accused of bias against women directors because, since 2000, Venice has awarded top prizes to more female directors than Cannes, Berlin or other festivals. The three presidents of this year\u2019s main juries are women. We were hoping to find more female-directed films for competition, but fewer were submitted. Women-directed fiction films accounted for 24% of submissions this year, compared with 30% last year. Unfortunately, we also found them to be of lower quality, so we weren\u2019t able to include more in competition. That\u2019s a great disappointment, but there should be no suspicion of any bias on our part.
The only rigid criterion we follow is the quality of the films. We are absolutely opposed to selecting films based on gender because we don\u2019t believe it\u2019s beneficial. It\u2019s humiliating for women if they\u2019re thought to have been chosen because they\u2019re women rather than because they made a good film.
We\u2019re not the ones making production or budget decisions, or controlling women\u2019s access to the profession. We judge only what\u2019s submitted to us, and while those judgments are inevitably subjective, they\u2019re based on the films themselves. If we\u2019ve made a mistake by not selecting a film directed by a woman, people can judge that once they\u2019ve seen the films.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview\u00a0has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera has pulled off a pretty impressive feat this year by assembling a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":177324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[100575,185,171,67,132,68,30989],"class_list":["post-954699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-alberto-barbera","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-venice-film-festival"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}