Sources say that Venice is one of the more expensive fall festivals to debut a film, due to the cost of transportation and accommodations. Bringing a movie to Venice doesn’t just mean flying out the director and one or two stars, as a studio would for the much more intimate Telluride Film Festival: they’d likely be expected to bring out the entire ensemble, because a Venice debut would be viewed as a world premiere. A studio that brings a movie to Venice might also choose to do its international junkets at the festival, which requires booking hotel rooms, glam squads, and bringing in more staff. “You cannot get in and out of Venice, probably, for under $300,000,” says a talent publicist who has gone to the festival with many clients.
Which would be fine if a studio were guaranteed that their movie would have the sort of fairy-tale debut every filmmaker dreams of. But Venice’s high expectations and big stage mean this festival also has a high risk of failure. The black-tie premieres, red carpets with hundreds of photographers, and timed standing ovations all increase the stakes. If a film comes in with high expectations but gets bad reviews, it’s in for a much greater fall.
A sneak peak at what’s to come from the 83rd Venice Film Festival, including buzzy titles like Primetime, Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, NAZA, and more.
Joker: Folie à Deux is a prime example of this sort of face-plant. The 2024 sequel to Joker (a Venice success story that won the fest’s Golden Lion award in 2019 before getting 11 Oscar nominations the following year) was slammed by critics as soon as it premiered—and it never recovered from that, earning only $200 million at the box office and being forever categorized as a bomb.
Warner Bros. hasn’t brought a feature film to Venice since, and there’s not really a need for the other majors—Universal, Disney, Paramount, or Sony—to attend Venice. As the talent publicist puts it, “Festivals are great for the indies.” As the success of films like Oppenheimer, One Battle After Another, and Sinners suggest, they’re less important for major studios. Smaller movies need festivals to get their awards narratives moving; studios can garner enough awareness with their own worldwide campaigns and deep marketing pockets. Steering a rollout from start to finish also means fewer surprises. “Especially [for] something that’s anticipated, why would you lose any amount of control that you have?” the publicist says. “The return on investment is too risky.”
Specialty companies and streamers do need the spotlight a big Venice premiere can give them. But about 3,000 journalists and film critics also attend Venice each year, which can be a bad thing if your movie doesn’t go over well there. And international critics can be far more vicious than Americans. “You have to almost be review-proof if you want to go through that whole scenario,” says another awards publicist. “I think Venice and Cannes critics are also just a little snarkier than a lot of them.”
Social media has also changed the rhythm of the festival. Before reviews by official film critics even publish, attendees are posting videos showing postscreening reactions. And then there are the press conferences. Venice and Cannes are known for events where directors and actors are asked rapid-fire questions from a gaggle of international reporters. But as various international conflicts and global politics have become increasingly intense, artists are often being asked questions that some find difficult to navigate. Last year, during the festival’s opening press conference, then Venice jury president Alexander Payne was asked about his personal views on the war in Gaza. “Quite frankly, I feel a little bit unprepared for that question,” Payne answered. “I’m here to judge and talk about cinema.”
