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Venice Welcomes Julia Roberts, George Clooney to Film Festival

Clooney and Roberts, pictured here in 2022, will be among the stars at Venice. Michael Tran / AFP
Clooney and Roberts, pictured here in 2022, will be among the stars at Venice. Michael Tran / AFP
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Venice Welcomes Julia Roberts, George Clooney to Film Festival

Clooney and Roberts, pictured here in 2022, will be among the stars at Venice. Michael Tran / AFP
Clooney and Roberts, pictured here in 2022, will be among the stars at Venice. Michael Tran / AFP

The Venice Film Festival kicks off this week, rolling out the red carpet for Julia Roberts and George Clooney in a flurry of worldwide premieres at the glitzy celebration on the sandy Lido.

A cavalcade of cinema A-listers will arrive by water taxi to Venice's seaside resort for the festival beginning Wednesday, from Jude Law to Emma Stone, drawing hundreds of fans hoping for a glimpse of their favorite stars.

Among the acclaimed directors at the festival's 82nd edition are Werner Herzog, Jim Jarmusch, Kathryn Bigelow, Gus Van Sant and Park Chan-wook, who returns to the festival after 20 years.

Venice, a highlight of the international film circuit, serves up both big budget films with box-office potential -- such as Benny Safdie's "The Smashing Machine" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as an ageing wrestler -- and smaller independent works.

Despite the glamorous backdrop, some of the films lined up which are more focused on current events are likely to provoke debate.

As the war in Ukraine goes on, Law portrays Russian President Vladimir Putin during his ascent to power in Olivier Assayas's "The Wizard of the Kremlin".

And filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania's latest film, "The Voice of Hind Rajab", is set in Gaza.

It tells the true story of a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in January 2024 by Israeli forces alongside six family members while trying to flee Gaza City.

It uses the real audio recording of Hind pleading for help to emergency services.

- Launchpad to Oscars -

Hollywood megastar Roberts will be making her Venice debut Friday in Luca Guadagnino's "After the Hunt" about a sexual assault case at a prestigious American university. The film is playing out of competition.

After delighting Venice fans from the red carpet last year, Clooney returns to star in the Netflix-produced "Jay Kelly" from Noah Baumbach, playing a beloved actor facing an identity crisis. Adam Sandler takes a supporting role as his manager.

Several winners at Venice, such as "Nomadland" and "Joker", have subsequently gone on to Oscar glory, making the Italian festival a key launching pad for cinema success.

Streaming titles from Netflix and Amazon have also increasingly chosen the event for their worldwide debuts.

Two-time Oscar winner and "Sideways" director Alexander Payne heads the jury this year, tasked with awarding the Golden Lion best film to one of 21 contenders in the main competition on September 6.

Aliens, Frankenstein

New offerings from directors Assayas, Guillermo del Toro, Yorgos Lanthimos and Kathryn Bigelow are vying for the top prize at the festival, which opens Wednesday evening with a love story from Venice regular Paolo Sorrentino.

Sorrentino, best known for "La Grande Belleza" ("The Great Beauty"), has teamed up again with longtime collaborator Toni Servillo for "La Grazia", set in their native Italy.

Greece's Lanthimos and Stone -- who worked together on the Oscar-winning "Poor Things" -- reunite again for sci-fi "Bugonia" about a high-powered executive kidnapped by people who think she is an alien.

"Frankenstein" is a big-budget interpretation of the cinema classic from Mexico's del Toro, starring Oscar Isaac.

The latest from Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty", "The Hurt Locker") is "A House of Dynamite", a political thriller starring Idris Elba. Both films are to be streamed on Netflix.

Fellow American director Jarmusch makes his debut in the main Venice lineup with "Father, Mother, Sister, Brother", which he has called "a funny and sad film" starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Jarmusch regular Tom Waits.

Included in the main competition is also the latest documentary from Italy's Gianfranco Rosi, "Sotto le Nuvole" ("Below the Clouds"), a black-and-white ode to Naples.

Out-of-competition documentaries include Sofia Coppola's profile of fashion designer Marc Jacobs; the latest from former Golden Lion winner Laura Poitras about veteran US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh; and a profile of British singer Marianne Faithfull from filmmaking team Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth.

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Entertainment

‘Scary Movie’ Tops Box Office, Slaying ‘Masters of the Universe’ and Adding to Low-Budget Streak

(L-R) US actor/producer/writer Shawn Wayans, US actor Anthony Anderson and US actor/producer/writer Marlon Wayans attend Paramount's "Scary Movie" premiere at the Paramount theater in Los Angeles on June 3, 2026. (AFP)
(L-R) US actor/producer/writer Shawn Wayans, US actor Anthony Anderson and US actor/producer/writer Marlon Wayans attend Paramount's "Scary Movie" premiere at the Paramount theater in Los Angeles on June 3, 2026. (AFP)
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‘Scary Movie’ Tops Box Office, Slaying ‘Masters of the Universe’ and Adding to Low-Budget Streak

(L-R) US actor/producer/writer Shawn Wayans, US actor Anthony Anderson and US actor/producer/writer Marlon Wayans attend Paramount's "Scary Movie" premiere at the Paramount theater in Los Angeles on June 3, 2026. (AFP)
(L-R) US actor/producer/writer Shawn Wayans, US actor Anthony Anderson and US actor/producer/writer Marlon Wayans attend Paramount's "Scary Movie" premiere at the Paramount theater in Los Angeles on June 3, 2026. (AFP)

The summer box office is booming — but not because of the usual suspects.

After three weeks of indie horror dominance at the box office, the slasher spoof “Scary Movie” topped ticket sales with $55 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily besting the far-from-mighty “Masters of the Universe.”

A new order has lately come to movie theaters, which have seen Gen Z ticket buyers flock to the horror hits “Obsession” and “Backrooms,” both made by YouTubers-turned-filmmakers. Those movies have even outshone The Walt Disney Co.’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.”

This weekend, comedy was the underdog champ. Though the genre has been all but left for dead in theaters, the sixth “Scary Movie” notched a franchise-best $105.5 million global launch. The Wayans brother comedy even outdid its primary satirical target, the “Scream” franchise. Earlier this year, “Scream 7” debuted with $97 million worldwide.

Both franchises are distributed by Paramount Pictures, though Miramax produced the new “Scary Movie.” Co-written by Marlon, Shawn, Keenan and Craig Wayans, the sequel marks the Wayans’ return to the franchise after their departure over creative differences following 2001’s “Scary Movie 2.”

“This is an outstanding opening for a comedy sequel this far into the series,” said David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe. "It’s a huge bounceback after the last episode crashed in 2013 when Anna Faris and Regina Hall were excluded. The weekend figure is triple the average for the genre.”

Reviews weren’t good (26% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores (a “B” CinemaScore) were so-so. But that didn’t stop the $30-million “Scary Movie” from dominating its much bigger budget competition.

“Masters of the Universe,” a sword and sorcery action adventure based on the 1980s animated series and Mattel toys, failed to revive the dormant franchise. The Amazon MGM release, the second “Masters of the Universe” film following a 1987 movie of the same title, opened with $29.3 million domestically.

“Masters of the Universe,” starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, added $25 million overseas. But for a film that cost nearly $200 million to produce, a much higher launch was needed to make profitability likely.

It’s Mattel Studios’ first release since 2023’s “Barbie.” But after the extraordinary $1.45 billion success of that film, “Masters of the Universe” will be closer to a flop for the toy company.

A24’s “Backrooms,” last weekend’s top release, slid steeply on its second weekend, dropping 68% with $25.9 million. But “Backrooms,” a $10 million movie based on 20-year-old Kane Parson’s YouTube series remains a record-breaking phenomenon. It's now A24’s highest grossing film ever with $212 million worldwide, moving ahead of “Marty Supreme."

In a near tie for third place, Focus Features’ “Obsession” grossed $25.6 million in its fourth weekend. That marked a paltry 7% drop from the previous weekend for 26-year-old Curry Barker’s horror sensation. Not accounting for inflation, no horror movie has ever had a better fourth weekend.

“Obsession,” about a man who wishes his crush returned his affections, was made for less than $1 million. It’s now grossed $152.1 million domestically and $224.8 million worldwide — a record for Focus.

In its third weekend, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” fell all the way to sixth place with $10 million. It was even bested by Fathom Entertainment’s “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act,” a combination of the last two episodes of the animated series. It collected $12.7 million.

A few other movies hit milestones.

Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” became the studio’s highest grossing film ever with $898 million globally. That puts it ahead, not accounting for inflation, both the highest grossing entries in the studio’s “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” franchises.

And 2026 got its first billion-dollar movie. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” crossed $1 billion worldwide for Universal.

The weekend overall was up a remarkable 63% from the same weekend last year, according to Comscore. Ticket sales on the year are up more than 13%. Next weekend, Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” debuts.

Entertainment

US Gamers Getting Older as Industry Reports Growth

People play Mario Kart World during a launch event ahead of the midnight release of the Nintendo Switch 2 at the Nintendo New York store on June 4, 2025. (AFP)
People play Mario Kart World during a launch event ahead of the midnight release of the Nintendo Switch 2 at the Nintendo New York store on June 4, 2025. (AFP)
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US Gamers Getting Older as Industry Reports Growth

People play Mario Kart World during a launch event ahead of the midnight release of the Nintendo Switch 2 at the Nintendo New York store on June 4, 2025. (AFP)
People play Mario Kart World during a launch event ahead of the midnight release of the Nintendo Switch 2 at the Nintendo New York store on June 4, 2025. (AFP)

Video games are having a moment in the United States -- but the players are getting older.
The average American video game player is now 37 years old -- up from 29 about two decades ago -- as the industry reports activity climbing back to their highest levels since the pandemic-era boom, a new report reveals.
The findings, from the Entertainment Software Association's annual Essential Facts report, challenge enduring stereotypes about who plays games while underscoring the industry's recovery from a post-pandemic slowdown.
"It mirrors in large part the demographics of the nation," ESA president and chief executive Stanley Pierre-Louis told AFP, noting that more than half of all players in the United States are now 35 or older.
The steadily rising average player age reflects both the aging of a generation that grew up with consoles and a wave of older adults who have since picked up the hobby.
The gender split also defies the stereotypical image of the young male gamer.
Men account for 53 percent of players and women 46 percent, with women actually outnumbering men among Baby Boomers, the ESA said.
Overall, 67 percent of Americans play video games for at least an hour a week -- a figure broad enough to encompass everything from blockbuster console titles to casual mobile games like Wordle.
Revenues -- totaling $60.7 billion in 2025 -- have rebounded to their highest point since 2021, when pandemic lockdowns drove an outsized surge in both players and spending.
After a pullback as restrictions lifted, the industry has returned to growth, Pierre-Louis said.
- Self-regulation -
As lawmakers in the United States and Europe weigh tougher regulations on screen time, age verification and in-game spending, Pierre-Louis argued the US gaming industry's track record of voluntary self-regulation sets it apart.
That voluntary framework, he said, has given the industry credibility with US lawmakers that social media platforms lack.
Those platforms, he noted, "traditionally didn't have the same level of parental tools that video games had" -- a gap that has fueled the regulatory backlash now engulfing companies such as Meta and TikTok.
"Safety is not a competitive issue in our industry -- it's one of collaboration," Pierre-Louis said.
"Being on the ecosystem and staying on the ecosystem means you feel like you're in a trusted environment."
- 'Satisfaction' -
The ESA was founded in 1994 partly in response to congressional concern over violent content in games, and almost immediately established the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which assigns age ratings from E for Everyone to M for Mature for titles sold in North America.
The system also flags details about online interactions and in-game purchases.
Major console platforms including Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch now offer parental control tools that allow families to restrict what games children can access, cap spending and limit screen time -- capabilities Pierre-Louis said have been refined over decades in direct response to parent and policymaker feedback.
The argument, however, faces increasing pushback in the United States.
The gaming industry is facing growing scrutiny as platforms expand into social media-like features, with ESA member Roblox especially under pressure over child safety issues with regulators and in courts.
Legislative proposals range from mandatory age verification for games with chat features to bills that would impose national safety standards.
For the industry, such legislation should not be necessary.
"It's a matter of how do we get everyone up to speed on what the video game industry has been doing, so that there's satisfaction around the practices and trust and safety mechanisms we have in place," Pierre-Louis said.

Entertainment

Actor Anthony Head, Known for ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ Has Died at 72

Anthony Head arrives for the European premiere of 'The Iron Lady' on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in London. (AP)
Anthony Head arrives for the European premiere of 'The Iron Lady' on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in London. (AP)
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Actor Anthony Head, Known for ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ Has Died at 72

Anthony Head arrives for the European premiere of 'The Iron Lady' on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in London. (AP)
Anthony Head arrives for the European premiere of 'The Iron Lady' on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in London. (AP)

Anthony Head, the suave, smooth-voiced British actor known for roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Ted Lasso," has died, his family said Friday. He was 72.

Head’s daughters, actors Emily and Daisy Head, told the Press Association news agency that the actor passed away due to complications from pneumonia.

The performer became known to British TV audiences in the 1980s as one half of a will-they, won’t-they romantic couple in a series of ads for Nescafe instant coffee.

Head achieved US fame as librarian Rupert Giles, mentor to the title character in the cult-favorite supernatural series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ran from 1997 to 2003.

He most recently played Rupert Mannion, the villainous ex-husband of Hannah Waddingham’s character Rebecca, in "Ted Lasso."

"Our grief is far greater than the hole he has left behind, but we know his legacy will live on, in the shows he was a part of, and in the audiences that love them," his daughters said. "How lucky we are to know we are able to watch him doing what he loved, even when he is no longer with us."