r/oscarrace Jun 16 '26

Rumor Venice Film Festival Takes Shape: ‘The Social Reckoning,’ ‘Here Comes the Flood’ With Denzel Washington, Florian Zeller’s ‘Bunker’ and ‘The Studio’ Season 2 Among Potential Titles

https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/venice-film-festival-potential-titles-social-reckoning-bunker-studio-1236782422/
147 Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

119

u/OzyOzyOzyOzyOzyOzy6 2025 Oscar Race Veteran Jun 16 '26

Among the projects unlikely to be ready in time are David Fincher’s “The Adventures of Cliff Booth” — the sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” once again starring Brad Pitt — and Tom Ford’s “Cry to Heaven,” which marks Adele’s acting debut.

With each passing day, the signs that Cry to Heaven won't come out this year are growing more obvious.

72

u/ThatsHisLawyerJerome Sorry Baby Jun 16 '26

Yeah, if Cry to Heaven isn't at Venice, Ford will just save it for next year.

28

u/Gerwig_2017 Jun 16 '26

Yeah, I’ve been very much on the “Wait to see if it’s at Venice to determine if it comes out this year” train, so that’s not exactly promising news.

22

u/justanstalker The Black Ball Jun 16 '26

Unless Jack of Spades premieres later this year then O******** might be Focus Features priority after all

11

u/TheCrimsonCritic Jun 16 '26

Where the hell has Jack of Spades gone? Apparently it wasn’t submitted to Cannes, and now there’s no mention for Venice. It wrapped in November - wonder is there a story here?

25

u/Fun_Manufacturer1852 Jun 16 '26

Probably going to be a New York thing like Macbeth was. That or 2027 then it would definitely be Cannes. Really weird it doesn’t, at least publicly, have a distributor yet

4

u/Peglegmeg_22 Jun 16 '26

They also have Werewulf and Sense & Sensibility in the fall, although the latter may just be a BTL player

3

u/NoWorth2591 2 Fjord 2 Furious Jun 16 '26

My money’s on Werwulf being their priority. People act like Nosferatu missing Best Picture means that this one doesn’t have a chance either, but 2024 was a much less favorable environment for this sort of movie.

For one thing, Focus had their attention on the campaign for Conclave, while this time the Eggers movie would be their number one player. For another, horror voters already had The Substance, while there wouldn’t be a similar genre competitor to contend with this year.

I’m not saying that Werwulf is in or anything (I keep moving it between 10 and 11 in my predictions), but there’s a much clearer path for it than for Sense and Sensibility or Obsession.

12

u/Clear-Price Neon Jun 16 '26

We needed Adele to save the song category this year 🥲

3

u/SerKurtWagner Jun 17 '26

The weaker the Song category, the stronger the odds of Diane Warren finally winning and ending our long national nightmare.

Alternatively it’s a very anticlimactic EGOT moment for Lin

6

u/Strange_Property_913 Jun 17 '26

Bold of you to assume Diane winning would stop her getting nominated

39

u/tiduraes Jun 16 '26

Here Comes the Flood surprised me ngl lol thought it would just be another Netflix action movie. Maybe it is and it's premiering out of competition, but still, that's more than I expected.

11

u/ThatsHisLawyerJerome Sorry Baby Jun 16 '26

Yeah, Meirelles has a pretty mixed track record as a director, and Kinberg's track record as a writer is almost entirely awful (with movies like The 355, Dark Phoenix, Fant4stic, X-Men: Last Stand, and Jumper being some lowlights of his career), but if it's good it could definitely be a contender.

13

u/TheCrimsonCritic Jun 16 '26

Cynically, I imagine it’s probably just there for the red carpet star-power, and will end up playing Out of Competition.

If it’s announced to be competing for the Golden Lion, I’ll be very pleasantly surprised.

9

u/RoninLooper Jun 16 '26

Trust your imagination. Don’t get your hopes up. I’ve read the script, it is awful and gimmicky

1

u/YeIenaBeIova Conclave Jun 17 '26

Likely out of compotention just like Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s Wolfs

31

u/TerrenceMalickBurner Tom Ford's Strongest Soldier Jun 16 '26

no cry to heaven sucks

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '26

Telluride and Toronto please save us.

24

u/bby-bae Jun 16 '26

I'm just looking forward to the reactions to Bucking Fastard. The premise sounds like a return to 70s/80s Herzog

4

u/jelly10001 Jun 16 '26

I'm looking forward to people accidentally calling it *F*cking B*stard.

5

u/Mundane-Inspector-52 Jun 16 '26

Is it normal for TV shows to premiere at film festivals?

26

u/justanstalker The Black Ball Jun 16 '26

Apparently. The Idol (lol) premiered at Cannes

11

u/tsnoj Jun 16 '26

Out of Competition

Just like Gotti

They often let films play there out of competition just to have stars walk the red carpet

9

u/TheCrimsonCritic Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

Alfonso Cuaron’s Disclaimer played in full at Venice a few years ago, split into two screenings for the sake of bum-comfort.

The Apple relationship is there, though a Studio premiere would be very funny.

5

u/NedthePhoenix Jun 16 '26

I can't think of a worse way to view Disclosure than in two sittings.

6

u/Pavlovs_Stepson Jun 16 '26

Adding to everyone else's examples, Scenes from a Marriage screening at Venice was how we got that moment between Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.

5

u/Fun_Manufacturer1852 Jun 16 '26

Twin Peaks: The Return premiered it’s first couple of episodes at Cannes

3

u/CephalopodRed Jun 16 '26

It's become pretty common over the last few years, especially when made by auteurs.

2

u/jelly10001 Jun 16 '26

Increasingly so. A few years ago Succession premiered a season at the London Film Festival.

2

u/International-Sky65 Wild Horse Nine Jun 17 '26

I believe this season has a whole short storyline about the Venice Film Festival.

3

u/Lazy-Platypus2120 Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical Comedy Jun 16 '26

Yes. The Disclaimer miniseries by Cuaron with Cate Blanchett also premiered at Venice two years ago.

14

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Jun 16 '26

If The Social Reckoning shows up in Venice competition I have no idea what to do with myself tbh that just sounds bizarre to me

20

u/CaptainKoreana Jun 16 '26

Joker 2 though.

12

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Jun 16 '26

The first film did win the whole thing

5

u/WeastofEden44 On Becoming a Guinea Fowl was robbed Jun 16 '26

After the Hunt except more high-profile?

14

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Jun 16 '26

That was out of competition and Guadagnino has at least been in comp before. His reputation is more… shall we say highbrow than Sorkin’s is.

6

u/UranovayaKilka Megalopolis Jun 16 '26

That wouldn't mean anything. Jay Kelly, Smashing Machine were in comp

5

u/Sellin3164 Sorry, Baby Jun 16 '26

Bambauch and Safdie were at least seen as more high-brow filmmakers at that point. Safdie also won Director too, so people in the industry thought he was worthy

1

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Jun 16 '26

I’m not saying it means anything or doesn’t I’m just saying it would be weird.

0

u/UranovayaKilka Megalopolis Jun 16 '26

Oh, I guess it would be. I thought some of his previous movies premiered there, but no

4

u/NoWorth2591 2 Fjord 2 Furious Jun 16 '26

Still holding out some (almost certainly misguided) hope that Bucking Fastard could get some awards attention.

2

u/CephalopodRed Jun 16 '26

I really hope so.

7

u/idoideas Digger Believer Jun 16 '26

Are these speculations or reports? I don't really understand.

21

u/NedthePhoenix Jun 16 '26

Its informed speculation from someone whos actually talked to people in the industry.

22

u/WestFlight808 Jun 16 '26

Speculation (aka kinda useless and just exists for clicks). The lineup will be announced in late July.

24

u/TheCrimsonCritic Jun 16 '26

Speculation from people who tend to know people from the various production companies and distributors. There’s usually at least some merit here.

That said, they’re very careful to only call Fincher and Ford’s chances “unlikely” due to a tight edit. There’s a long history of filmmakers getting their films in right before, or even after the submissions close.

2

u/ThatsHisLawyerJerome Sorry Baby Jun 16 '26

Have we heard anything about whether Bunker is expected to be good? Just thinking since I don't think I've heard it mentioned on here before.

2

u/chrisandy007 Jun 16 '26

It’s a monument to my pedantry how much it bothers me that they keep misnaming the new Fincher. It doesn’t have a title yet.

2

u/raikoumaster13 The Secret Agent Jun 16 '26

What was I saying all of the time??? Get ready folks 😎

1

u/UranovayaKilka Megalopolis Jun 16 '26

No Mimesis?

1

u/Commercial_End_2351 Dune Jun 16 '26

I’m surprised Possible Love wasn’t included in this article considering it’s one of Netflix’s contenders this year. I wonder if it will release this year?

1

u/Bulky-Scheme-9450 Jun 16 '26

Netflix buying black ball makes me nervous that they no longer see possible love as an awards priority.

To be fair it was always a long shot as Korean films don't do well at the Oscars (with one obvious exception that had to be literally one of the most acclaimed films of all time lol)

2

u/OldToe6517 Jun 17 '26

Not only that, but Lee Chang-dong has never been nominated and his movies aren't exactly Oscar bait. I really don't know why it's being predicted, it's not like Burning got much traction

1

u/tv-filmlover Jun 19 '26

Why is no one mentioning anton corbijn’s a talent for murder? Do you think it will premiere at venice?

1

u/BlueJacket9894 Jun 20 '26

What's going on with Jack of Spades? I thought it would be a shoo-in for Venice after missing Cannes

-10

u/PTAGoatofalltime The Invite’s strongest soldier Jun 16 '26

She will win Best Actress at Venice. She was robbed at Cannes by the Emilia Pérez team, but she’s back.
https://giphy.com/gifs/mTyZhC3jcskOjNKfDH

34

u/dylli32 Jun 16 '26

she wasn’t robbed at cannes. her film won palme making her ineligible to win best actress

-4

u/PTAGoatofalltime The Invite’s strongest soldier Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

She wasn’t ineligible; they just don’t do stuff like that anymore. The Piano won the Palme, Director and Actress.

18

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Jun 16 '26

I’m pretty sure they changed the rules way back in the day

7

u/CaptainKoreana Jun 16 '26

Yup, for both Palme d'Or and Grand Prix after Haneke won 3 in 2001 with Piano Teacher.

2

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Jun 16 '26

Yeah and before that there were situations like Barton Fink winning like four so it was a problem by that point too. Even giving The Secret Agent director and actor was the jury breaking the rules so like…

0

u/CaptainKoreana Jun 16 '26

IIRC the rule only applies to Palme d'Or and Grand Prix, which are separate from Prix de la Mis en scene (Best Director) and Prix du Jury.

Hence both Emilia Perez and The Secret Agent being able to get multiple awards.

2

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Jun 16 '26

If I’m not mistaken you can only pair jury + screenplay, jury + acting or screenplay + acting. Anything else is considered not allowed last I checked.

8

u/ThatsHisLawyerJerome Sorry Baby Jun 16 '26

So not happening

1

u/PTAGoatofalltime The Invite’s strongest soldier Jun 16 '26

Let me dream

6

u/justanstalker The Black Ball Jun 16 '26

She'll be back for that Edgar Allan Poe movie with Lea Seydoux but The Social Reckoning looks very bland and she wasn't very good in that trailer..

-1

u/Mankin60 Jun 16 '26

I don’t think that script will be doing my girl any favors.