Michael Fassbender as a hitman, Liam Neeson as a newly retired assassin, Emma Stone as a Frankenstein-like creature and biopics of Priscilla Presley and Enzo Ferrari are among the films that will premiere at next month's Venice Film Festival, organisers have said, although a Hollywood actors' strike could keep top stars away.
The line-up for the 80th edition of the prestigious festival on the beach-lined Lido also includes the latest films from Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, both sure to raise eyebrows due to long-time sexual abuse allegations involving the directors.
But the usually star-studded event could be a more toned-down affair this year with fewer A-listers on the red carpet amid the first industry-wide walkout in more than 60 years that has effectively shut down Hollywood.
Although many US actors and actresses may have to stay away, the impact of the strike on the 30 August to 9 September event has so far been "very modest", the festival's artistic director, Alberto Barbera, told journalists, with only one film pulling out entirely.
Talent working in independent films, provided they are not linked to the big studios, may still come, he said, in announcing the official lineup.
"So we hope the red carpet won't be as empty as some have stated in recent days," said Barbera.
Among the 23 films competing for the top Golden Lion prize is Bradley Cooper's Maestro about the legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein.
Barbera described the film as a "biography of an extraordinary genius" that focuses on Bernstein's tormented relationship with his wife, played by Carey Mulligan.
It was not clear if director Cooper, who also plays the lead role, will be able to attend.
Venice has increasingly become a launchpad for Oscar contenders, including recent winners such as Joker, La La Land and A Star is Born, with shots of celebrities arriving by gondola making for priceless PR.
David Fincher returns to the Lido with his Michael Fassbender-starring The Killer, more than 20 years after his cult hit Fight Club sharply divided the festival's critics.
Bound to trigger controversy is the inclusion of new films by Allen and Polanski, both of which are playing out of competition.
Both directors have been effectively blacklisted by Hollywood over historic sexual assault allegations.
While Polanski has been convicted in the US - where he remains a fugitive - for the rape of a minor in the 1970s and still faces other allegations, Allen was investigated multiple times but cleared by police in the 1990s.
Emma Stone is not likely to appear for Poor Things in which she again teams up with Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite), playing a woman brought back to life by an eccentric scientist.
Irish company Element Pictures is once again among the producers of the Greek auteur's latest and Dubliner Robbie Ryan - Oscar-nominated for The Favourite - returns as his cinematographer.
The festival was forced to switch its opening film last week after Challengers, a tennis romance starring US actress Zendaya, was withdrawn due to the strike.
It has been replaced by Comandante by Italy's Edoardo De Angelis, a World War Two naval drama starring Pierfrancesco Favino.
But many high-profile Hollywood films are pressing ahead with a Venice premiere, including Sofia Coppola's Cailee Spaeny-starring movie about Priscilla Presley and Michael Mann's Ferrari with Adam Driver in the lead role.
International directors include Mexico's Michel Franco with Memory, starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, and Italy's Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah) with Io Capitano.
Also competing for the top prize is France's Luc Besson, who was cleared of rape allegations by France's top appeals court last month.
Dogman and Europa Europa director Agnieszka Holland, whose The Green Border was shot at the migrant crossing on the border of Poland and Belarus, is another contender for the Golden Lion.
Playing out of competition are, among others, a 40-minute Wes Anderson film, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, based on a Roald Dahl story, and a new feature from Richard Linklater, Hit Man.
The Irish thriller In the Land of Saints and Sinners, starring Liam Neeson, Kerry Condon, Ciarán Hinds, Colm Meaney and Sarah Greene, will screen as part of the Horizons Extra strand of the Venice programme, where festivalgoers become the judges.
Actors in the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union went on strike earlier this month after talks to reach a new deal with studios failed, joining writers who have been striking since May.
Demands by SAG-AFTRA have focused on dwindling pay in the streaming era and the threat posed by artificial intelligence.
Source: AFP
