Venice film fest set to ‘splash’ – but key titles pulled at the last minute
The 2026 Venice Film Festival is shaping up to be a spectacle, but a significantly less splashy one than initially anticipated. A wave of highly-anticipated projects, including ambitious projects from Iñárritu, Sorkin, and Fincher, have been pulled from the lineup, leaving festival organizers scrambling to fill the void.
A star-studded lineup, now severely thinned
Several major titles – including Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger starring Tom Cruise, Aaron Sorkin’s politically charged drama The Social Reckoning with Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg, and David Fincher’s The Adventures of Cliff Booth – were expected to dominate the festival. Adding to the disappointment, Tom Ford’s Cry to Heaven, featuring Adele’s acting debut, and Tony Gilroy’s awards hopeful Behemoth! fronted by Pedro Pascal, have all been withdrawn. This leaves a still-impressive, yet noticeably diminished, roster for the event running September 2nd to 12th.
A star-studded showcase remains
Despite these setbacks, the 83rd Venice Film Festival promises a compelling mix of thrillers, romps, and thought-provoking documentaries. Maggie Gyllenhaal will preside over the jury, while veteran screen legend Ellen Burstyn and George Clooney will receive lifetime achievement awards. Notable documentaries include Laura Poitras’ co-directed short on ICE, Alex Gibney’s four-hour deep dive into Elon Musk, and a seven-hour Bernardo Bertolucci exploration – the final film from the legendary director before his death. Even Oasis’s recent reunion tour is getting the documentary treatment, told through the eyes of the Gallagher brothers.
The heavyweights
Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine is almost universally considered the festival’s primary awards contender. The darkly comedic follow-up to The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri boasts a lavish cast including John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, who are embroiled in a CIA conspiracy amidst the mysterious statues of Easter Island in the run-up to the 1973 Chilean coup. Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem return with Florian Zeller’s Bunker, a psychological thriller examining an architect’s obsession with constructing a top-secret bunker for a tech mogul – a project that threatens to unravel his family. Paul Dano, Stephen Graham, and Patrick Schwarzenegger round out the supporting cast.
Unconventional takes
Werner Herzog’s latest, Bucking Fastard, a hallucinatory exploration of twin sisters, initially headed for Cannes but was rejected in favor of Venice. The film stars Rooney and Kate Mara, marking the sisters’ first on-screen collaboration. Also on offer is James Graham’s Ink, adapted from his acclaimed play about Rupert Murdoch and The Sun, starring Guy Pearce and Jack O’Connell. Finally, Andrea Pallaoro’s Possible Love, featuring Alicia Vikander and Susan Sarandon, delves into the complexities of love and obsession, drawing inspiration from Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog. And a fitting tribute to Bertolucci – Ellen Burstyn stars in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 17-minute short, Flesh Impact, revisiting the myth of Marilyn Monroe.
A gallagher finale
The most intriguing development? Noel and Liam Gallagher will be attending the festival together, promoting their biopic, Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, written by Steven Knight and directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern. The brothers’ joint appearance promises a potentially chaotic press conference – a truly surreal moment for the festival. The film, which captures their recent reconciliation and world tour, is poised to be a significant event.
A measured close
Ultimately, the 2026 Venice Film Festival will be a testament to resilience. While key projects have vanished, a compelling lineup remains. Let’s see if it delivers the spectacle the world is expecting.