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Venice Film Festival Lineup includes ‘Joker 2,’ Films with Pitt, Clooney, Jolie, More

The lineup for the 81st edition of the festival, unveiled early Tuesday, also includes new films starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Jude Law - The AP
The lineup for the 81st edition of the festival, unveiled early Tuesday, also includes new films starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Jude Law - The AP
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Venice Film Festival Lineup includes ‘Joker 2,’ Films with Pitt, Clooney, Jolie, More

The lineup for the 81st edition of the festival, unveiled early Tuesday, also includes new films starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Jude Law - The AP
The lineup for the 81st edition of the festival, unveiled early Tuesday, also includes new films starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Jude Law - The AP

Five years after “Joker” won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, filmmaker Todd Phillips is returning with the sequel. “Joker: Folie à Deux” will play in competition with 20 other titles, festival organizers said Tuesday.

The highly anticipated follow-up to the blockbuster comic book film stars Joaquin Phoenix as the mentally ill Arthur Fleck and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn.

The lineup for the 81st edition of the festival, unveiled early Tuesday, also includes new films starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Jude Law, The AP reported.

Among the films playing alongside “Joker 2” in competition are Pablo Larraín's Maria Callas film “Maria,” starring Jolie; Walter Salles' “I'm Still Here"; the erotic thriller “Babygirl” starring Kidman and Harris Dickinson from filmmaker Halina Reijn; Luca Guadagnino’s William S. Burrough’s adaptation “Queer,” with Craig and Jason Schwartzman; and Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language film, “The Room Next Door,” starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. Set in New England, the filmmaker has said it’s about an imperfect mother and a resentful daughter.

“The Order,” Justin Kurzel’s 80s-set crime thriller about the white supremacist group starring Law as an FBI agent, Nicholas Hoult and Jurnee Smollett, will also be in competition, as will Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” with Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones and Joe Alwyn. Shot on 70mm, the 215-minute epic is about a Hungarian Auschwitz survivor who goes to the United States.

Pitt and Clooney will reunite in Jon Watts’ “Wolfs,” an adrenaline packed action-comedy about a few fixers that will screen out of competition.

Several interesting films playing in the horizons extra section include “September 5,” about the live television coverage of the Munich Olympics, starring Peter Sarsgaard; John Swab’s “King Ivory,” with Ben Foster and James Badge Dale; and Alex Ross Perry’s film about Stephen Malkmus’ California rock band Pavement.

Venice will also screen Peter Weir’s 2003 epic “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” in conjunction with his lifetime achievement award.

Seven episodes of Alfonso Cuarón’s psychological thriller series “Disclaimer” will also premiere at the festival. The AppleTV+ show is based on a novel about a documentary journalist and a secret she’s been keeping. It stars Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline and will debut on the streamer in October.

Among the nonfiction titles playing out of competition are Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’ “One to One: John & Yoko,” which reconstructs the New York years of the Beatle and his wife; Errol Morris’ “Separated,” about the separation of immigrant children from their parents in the US; Anastasia Trofimova’s “Russians at War”; Göran Hugo Olsson's “Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989”; “Riefenstahl,” about the German propagandist; And another Beatles-focused doc, “The Things We Said Today,” a time capsule of their arrival in New York and first concert at Shea Stadium.

Last year’s festival took place amid the actors’ strike. Although some attended under interim agreements, like Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz for “Ferrari” and “Priscilla” stars Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, the festival was lacking its usual, consistent supply of star power. But its awards season influence remained strong: Seven Venice world premieres went on to get 24 Oscar nominations and five wins: Four for “Poor Things” and one for Wes Anderson’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.”

Venice is a significant launching ground for awards hopefuls and the first major stop of a busy fall film festival season, with Toronto, Telluride and the New York Film Festivals close behind.

The 81st edition kicks off on August 28, with the world premiere of Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.” All of the main cast, including Michael Keaton, are expected to grace the red carpet. The Venice Film Festival runs through Sept. 7.

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Entertainment

Labubu Creators Hope for Monster Film Hit in Sony Co-production

FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
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Labubu Creators Hope for Monster Film Hit in Sony Co-production

FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

China's snaggle-toothed Labubu dolls will soon come alive on the big screen after flying off the toy shelves, with maker Pop Mart announcing a collaboration with Sony Pictures.

The movie, which is still in early development, will feature the fanged plushie monsters in a "live-action and CGI hybrid", Beijing-based Pop Mart said on Thursday.

Created in 2015 by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, Labubus sparked a craze nine years later, with the "ugly-cute" charms adorning the handbags of celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa and sparking massive queues at Pop Mart stores around the world.

Vivian Jia, a Canadian tourist visiting Pop Mart's flagship Shanghai flagship store, said she was looking forward to watching the Labubu movie with her children.

"I think they're so cute, especially the ones with the eyes that move... my friends' kids all like (Labubus) too," she told AFP.

Jia said she spent more than 400 yuan ($58) on a Labubu figure, which she said she planned to display in her living room in Vancouver.

The new film project, unveiled by Lung and director Paul King ("Wonka" and "Paddington") in Paris on Thursday, will seek to capitalize on the dolls' viral fame by bringing "Labubu's whimsical world to the big screen", Pop Mart said.

The collectable dolls, which typically sell for around $40, are released in limited quantities and sold in "blind boxes", meaning buyers do not know the exact model they will receive.

Some of the less common Labubu figures can fetch thousands of dollars.

Pop Mart sold more than 100 million Labubu dolls worldwide last year, with Chinese officials hailing the toothy characters' popularity as evidence of China's growing cultural and soft power.

They have become furry ambassadors for a "cool" China, even in places such as Europe and North America, where public opinion towards Beijing has not always been positive.

Camilla Pinheiro, a Brazilian Pop Mart fan who bought several dolls at the Shanghai store, said she would prefer a movie franchise about some of Pop Mart's less well-known toy lines, such as the punk-inspired Peach Riot figures.

"The whole (Labubu) fever, it was kind of intense... by the time they finish the movie, it will be so saturated," Pinheiro said.

King will share scriptwriting duties with Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson.

"The collaboration between Pop Mart and Sony Pictures marks a significant milestone," Pop Mart said, which promises "a unique cinematic experience with creative storytelling, artistic vision and enduring global appeal".

The company now has more than 600 stores in over 30 countries and regions.

A release date for the film has not yet been announced.

Entertainment

Tina Turner’s Name, Image, Likeness and Most Music Catalog Rights Acquired by Pophouse

Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
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Tina Turner’s Name, Image, Likeness and Most Music Catalog Rights Acquired by Pophouse

Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)

Pophouse Entertainment has acquired Tina Turner’s name, image and likeness rights as well as the majority share of her music catalog rights from music company BMG, it announced Thursday.

The Swedish company, co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, is known for their digital avatars and immersive experiences.

Pophouse CEO Jessica Koravos would not disclose the deal's financial details or describe the company's plans for the Turner acquisition but told The Associated Press “that one of the reasons that we were so interested in Tina is because she has such an incredible visual presence and such an incredible stage energy. And so, we’re very much looking at projects that can portray that and try to recreate that to some degree.”

“What we want to do is really help to consolidate her legacy,” she added. “I think that Tina Turner is up there, or is going to be up there, with the Elvises and the Marilyn Monroes of the world.”

Koravos would not confirm if a digital avatar is on the way. She did say Pophouse will announce plans in the next six months.

Turner, known as the “Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll” for her chart-topping hits such as “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Best” and “Proud Mary,” died in 2023 at 83. Across her multidecade career, Turner won 12 Grammy Awards — including a Lifetime Achievement Award — was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and 2021, was honored at the Kennedy Center in 2005 and sold over 150 million records worldwide.

Conversations for the Pophouse deal began after her death. Koravos told the AP that BMG still holds a percentage of her catalog. She said Turner's estate was not involved “as a counterparty but certainly involved and in the sense of informed and participating in the conversations.”

“Tina Turner’s voice and spirit shaped modern music and popular culture,” Alistair Norbury, president of BMG UK, Continental Europe and APAC, wrote in a statement. “Our responsibility, alongside Pophouse and the Estate, is to ensure her work continues to resonate with audiences around the world, while remaining true to the strength, independence and originality that defined her career.”

One of many musical investments Pophouse has been making investments outside of Sweden as of late. In 2024, hard rock quartet Kiss sold their catalog, brand name and intellectual property to Pophouse in a deal estimated to be over $300 million. Previously, the band partnered with Pophouse to develop digitized avatars of themselves, which they revealed onstage at the final night of their 2023 farewell tour.

The cutting-edge technology was created by George Lucas’ special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, in partnership with Pophouse. The same companies teamed up for the “ABBA Voyage” show in London, where fans could attend a full concert by the Swedish band in their heyday, as performed by their own digital avatars.

Also in 2024, Cyndi Lauper entered a partnership with Pophouse, which included the sale of the majority share of her music.

“Most suits, when you tell them an idea, their eyes glaze over, they just want your greatest hits,” Lauper told the AP at Pophouse's Stockholm headquarters at the time. “But these guys are a multimedia company, they’re not looking to just buy my catalog, they want to make something new.”

“I think what interests artists, and the estates of artists in some cases, is that there aren’t very many people who are talking to them about what they want to achieve, creatively, around their body of work,” Koravos says. “So I think that is interesting to people, it's interesting to artists, who have got creative projects in their heads that they would like some support realizing. And those are the people we’re interested in talking to.”

“We’re not trying to be a major (label),” she adds. “It’s not a volume game for us. We want to acquire 10 or 12 really unique properties that have even more unique projects attached to them.”

Entertainment

Director Plans to Put Val Kilmer Back on Screen Thanks to AI

A director says Val Kilmer authorized using AI to have him 'act' in a movie after his death. JIM WATSON / AFP
A director says Val Kilmer authorized using AI to have him 'act' in a movie after his death. JIM WATSON / AFP
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Director Plans to Put Val Kilmer Back on Screen Thanks to AI

A director says Val Kilmer authorized using AI to have him 'act' in a movie after his death. JIM WATSON / AFP
A director says Val Kilmer authorized using AI to have him 'act' in a movie after his death. JIM WATSON / AFP

The late American film star Val Kilmer could soon be "acting" on the big screen again after allowing a director to use AI tools to produce his likeness for an upcoming film, media reports said Wednesday.

Coerte Voorhees had tapped Kilmer, who died of pneumonia last year after years of battling throat cancer, for "As Deep as the Grave," about the pioneering archaeologist Ann Morris, a co-discoverer of the Anasazi civilization.

Kilmer was to play a Catholic priest named Fintan, said AFP.

"He was the actor I wanted to play this role," Voorhees told industry magazine Variety. "It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest."

He said Kilmer signed on to the project but later became too ill to begin filming.

"I was looking at a call sheet the other day, and we had him ready to shoot," Voorhees said. "He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn't do it."

He said Kilmer's family had provided video images of Kilmer, who was known for keeping a vast archive of footage from various moments of his life, that would be used to build the AI actor.

The project will likely get a wary welcome from many in Hollywood, where actors, writers and others are worried that AI could replace an array of jobs.

AI was already used with Kilmer so he could again play one of his most iconic roles, the cocky pilot Iceman, in the 2022 sequel to the era-defining 1980s hit "Top Gun."

Kilmer, who played in big-budget successes and indie films throughout his career, was one of the late actors praised during the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars ceremony on Sunday.