Continuing their 23-year onscreen collaboration, George Clooney and Brad Pitt brought their latest co-starring venture to the Venice Film Festival today as Wolfs world premiered out of competition. The official screening was greeted with a five-minute, 35-second ovation Sunday inside the Sala Grande.
The duo danced to Sade’s ‘Smooth Operator’ as the credits rolled and they greeted fans on the way out, during which they also received congratulations from Cate Blanchett and Benedict Cumberbatch in the audience.
Also in attendance were cast members Amy Ryan and Austin Abrams. A no-show, however, was writer-director Jon Watts who, Clooney told the press this morning, is sick with Covid, “He flew all the way here and he got Covid and he’s now in bed.”
From Apple Original Films, Wolfs follows Clooney as a professional fixer hired to cover up a high-profile crime. But when a second fixer (Pitt) shows up and the two “lone wolves” are forced to work together, they find their night spiraling out of control in ways that neither of them expected.
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In December last year, Sony won the global theatrical distribution deal for the crime thriller with comedic elements. Then in August, Apple pivoted on its plan for Wolfs to have a wide theatrical release before it lands on Apple TV+. It instead will receive a limited theatrical release September 20, then debut globally on Apple TV+ on September 27.
Clooney and Pitt admitted to the press today that they had been disappointed by the decision even if they still believed the rise of the streamers was a positive development overall.
“Yes, we wanted it to be released, we’ve had some bumps along the way, that happens,” said Clooney. “There are elements of this that we are figuring out… It is a bummer, of course it’s a bummer. On the other hand, a lot of people are going to see the film and we are getting a release in a few hundred theaters, but, yeah, it would have been nicer to have a wide release.”
Pitt said they had been looking for the right project to come along for them to reunite on screen again. “We kind of figured there’s gotta be a good reason to get back in a film together, something we feel like we could build upon what we’ve done before. But also, I gotta say, as I get older, working with the people that I just really enjoy spending time with has really become important to me,” he said.
Wolfs is produced by Grant Heslov, Clooney, Pitt, Dede Gardner, Kleiner, Watts,and Dianne McGunigle. Executive Producer is Michael Beugg.