Zendaya-led drama Challengers pulled from Venice film festival over strike

Luca Guadagnino’s hotly anticipated tennis drama Challengers will no longer open this year’s Venice film festival as a result of the Hollywood actors’ strike.

The MGM/Amazon film, starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, had been set for a splashy August debut on the Lido but has now been pulled. The release date has also changed, from September to April next year.

Related: Warner Bros considering delaying release of Dune: Part Two due to strikes

The festival has announced that instead the opening film will be Edoardo De Angelis’s Italian drama Comandante.

Guadagnino’s previous films Bones and All, Suspiria and A Bigger Splash had premiered at the festival.

The Sag-Aftra strike forbids actors in the guild to promote their films, which would have prevented the stars from heading to Venice. Zendaya is one of Instagram’s most popular users – she has over 200 million followers – and according to Deadline, the teaser for Challengers recently became the most watched trailer for an original non-IP film in its first 24 hours.

The news comes as a blow to the upcoming fall festival circuit, used to build buzz for movies expected to be major awards contenders. Last year’s Venice festival saw world premieres of Tár, The Whale and The Banshees of Inisherin.

Earlier this week, Toronto film festival chief, Cameron Bailey, expressed optimism about this year and claimed a bumper lineup, boasting sales titles and independent features not yet associated with studios involved in union discussions. “Tiff is on,” he said. “Our dates are the same, the films are coming.”

The release date change for Challengers comes after rumours emerged that Warner Bros is looking to delay the release of its November tentpole Dune 2, also starring Zendaya. A Variety report also said the studio was considering moving The Color Purple and Aquaman 2.

On Thursday, Lionsgate announced it would be moving the Helen Mirren-led drama White Bird from its August release date, while the Dirty Dancing sequel would be pushed from February to summer 2025. A24 has also pulled the 4 August release of comedy Problemista.

The strike, which is entering its second week, is based on similar sticking points to the writers’ strike, based around concerns over residual pay and the increasing threat of artificial intelligence.

Actors in the guild are not permitted to engage in any promotional activity for their films, which led to a star-free premiere of The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland last weekend.

It was reported earlier this week that Tom Cruise had lobbied Sag-Aftra to allow actors the opportunity to promote their work during the strike.

Although production on films such as Beetlejuice 2 and Deadpool 3 has paused, special waivers have been granted to independent films that do not have studio or streaming involvement. The titles include the pop-star drama Mother Mary starring Anne Hathaway and the action comedy Bride Hard starring Rebel Wilson.