This year, as the fall film-festival season begins, the narrative around Venice, Telluride, and Toronto is less about the films headed to each event—and more about the films that aren’t. As several insiders put it, this is “a light year,” particularly for Venice: one where few major studio movies are making their debuts.
The buzziest world premieres at Venice 2026, which kicks off September 2, will be A24’s Primetime, starring Robert Pattinson; Searchlight’s Wild Horse Nine, starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell; and Netflix’s Ink , starring Guy Pearce and Jack O’Connell. It’s a noticeable contrast to the 2025 festival, when new movies starring Julia Roberts, Emma Stone, and George Clooney all bowed.
Preparations Ahead Of The 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
So, what changed? This year’s lightweight lineup is due to a variety of larger industry shifts, including sky-high costs, social media challenges, and an increasingly politicized climate, according to a variety of awards sources who spoke to Vanity Fair.
Over the past couple of years—and especially last year—Venice debuted several high-profile films that were met tepidly, and never recovered on the awards trail. The stakes are higher in Venice than anywhere else.
As one publicist says, “When you are a big movie with big money behind it and you go to Venice, people have higher expectations.”
Just last year, the Lido was overflowing with stars and buzzy premieres, including Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine (starring Dwayne Johnson), Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (starring Jacob Elordi), and Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite (starring Idris Elba).