Venice is known as a city on water with winding canals and breathtaking architecture. And, from August 28th to September 7th, it hosted the annual Venice Film Festival. Hollywood’s biggest actors and filmmakers gathered to attend parties in gorgeous casinos and gardens, participate in interviews, and gather to discuss the world of film. The festival has become the most vied-for place to premiere new movies. From sequels to well-known duos making a reprise, this year’s most anticipated and buzz-worthy films compete for a Golden Lion. The following six titles stole the spotlight. 

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice

The first sequel of mention is Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Winona Ryder reprises her role as Lydia Deetz and is joined by her rebellious teenage daughter Astrid Deetz played by Jenna Ortega. As Tim Burton’s new muse and Hollywood’s newest Horror-It-Girl, Ortega is the perfect new addition. Catherine O’Hara and Michael Keaton reprise their role as well. Three generations of the Deetz family return home and Astrid discovers a portal to the afterlife, unleashing Beetlejuice into the world to conduct more mayhem. The film is expected to have the same high energy and eccentric characters fit for all members of the family, including nostalgic Beetlejuice fans, and a new introduction to the younger generation.

Maria

Angelina Jolie takes on her first main role since Maleficent. Director Pablo Larraín is known for his series of female-led biopics narrating the lives of iconic yet complicated women: Natalie Portman in Jackie and Kristen Stewart in Spencer. Now he takes on the life of scandalous opera singer Maria Callas, played by Jolie. This is not a standard biopic as it is set during her final days in 1970s Paris—a principal moment for her life and how the world views her. Jolie has the drama and star-like to breathe a new life into this character and rumors of an Oscar performance are already brewing.

Joker: Folie à Deux

The Joker directed by Todd Phillips premiered at the 2019 Film Festival taking a Golden Lion, which turned into a billion-dollar box office, two Academy awards, and a Best Actor win for Joaquin Phoenix. In this sequel, the auspicious visual style remains with a big shake-up– one that could only be leveled up with the likes of Lady Gaga starring as Harley Quinn. The songstress will undoubtedly bring in her musical chops and be the perfect partner-in-crime to the eccentric Phoenix. In this twisted retelling of how the iconic pair falls in love, expectations are high.

Queer

The legendary director Luca Guadagnino will finally have his first moment in Venice. His ambitious streak continued with another film following the success of the Challengers with Zendaya. Guadagnino works with the same screenwriter, Justin Kuritzkes, to release a new love story. Daniel Craig plays an older gay man who becomes entangled with a younger man played by Drew Starkey in Mexico City. There is a lot of mystery around the details of the film but one can surmise that the Call Me By Your Name director will apply his expert vision of romance and tension. The film has supposedly been his passion project for the past 40 years and considering his streak, it is likely this new film will turn out to be quite the payoff.

Wolfs

It wouldn’t be the Venice Film Festival without Brad Pitt or George Clooney. Lucky for us, both have teamed up for their new film Wolfs. The character “Wolf” originates in Pulp Fiction: the guy who deals with the post-assassin clean-up and asks no questions. Clooney and Pitt play two different “wolves” who mistakenly show up together. What ensues is an action comedy that makes viewers nostalgic for the Ocean’s Eleven duo. Spider-Man director Jon Watts and Pitt and Clooney feature as producers.

Winner: The Room Next Door

Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore play Ingrid and Martha: old friends who used to work at a magazine and were brought back together by unusual circumstances. Conversations between the two are contemplative yet sweet, broaching topics of life and death with simplicity and ease. With Swinton’s versatility and Moore’s likeability, the powerful duo was destined to create a brilliant film. This is Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar‘s first English-feature film and rumors are already brewing regarding a potential Oscar.

Each film is set to come out now if not soon. As 2024’s most anticipated films, this will not be the last you hear about these diverse and intriguing stories. Our advice: binge them before the spoilers hit.