The 8 biggest films premiering at the 2025 Venice Film Festival
From Guillermo del Toro’s latest passion project to The Rock’s Lido debut, the 2025 Venice Film Festival has a jam-packed program
By Cayle Reid
AS THE WORLD’S oldest film festival, the Venice Film Festival has an eye for what will become the year’s most highly regarded prestige fare. The festival’s ‘Golden Lion’ has often been a bellwether for what to expect during awards season. Previous winners Nomadland, Poor Things, The Shape of Water, Joker, Roma and Brokeback Mountain, have all gone on to achieve wider success after premiering in Venice.
Of course, the red carpet and gondola arrivals are an event in and of themselves. With actors like George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Emma Stone, Jacob Elordi, Julia Roberts and Dwayne Johnson in attendance, there’ll be no shortage of star power to attract flashbulbs and prompt headlines. We can see the festival’s most viral moment now: the Rock making his way to the Lido di Venezia in some poor gondola, rocking side to side as it strains under his immense bulk, threatening to capsize. Fingers crossed that hilarious image comes to fruition.
Before the festivities kick off, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about the 2025 Venice Film Festival, from the most anticipated premieres to the biggest stars who will be attending.
What are the biggest films premiering at the Venice Film Festival?
Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro has long dreamed of adapting Frankenstein, saying it was a movie he “would kill to make” back in 2007. In 2008, del Toro expanded on his vision for a Frankenstein movie in an interview with Empire. “What I’m trying to do is take the myth and do something with it, but combining elements of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein without making it just a classical myth of the monster,” del Toro said. “The best moments in my mind of Frankenstein, of the novel, are yet to be filmed.”
Now he’ll get his wish, with Oscar Isaac starring as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi starring as his monstrous creation. Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz and Lars Mikkelsen make up the supporting cast.
The Smashing Machine
That’s right, The Rock isn’t going to be in Venice because he’s playing Frankenstein’s monster. Johnson is the star of Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, a biopic about two-time UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr. The film will chronicle Kerr’s rise as one of the early faces of the UFC and could net The Rock his first-ever Oscar nomination – coincidentally, it also appears to be the first film Johnson has done where he isn’t playing a caricature of himself.
After the Hunt
It feels like Luca Guadagnino has been knocking on the door for an Oscar for some time now. Yet, he has only ever been nominated for Best Picture for Call Me By Your Name and never earned a nomination for Best Director. After the Hunt could change that.
After the Hunt boasts a knockout cast, with Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield and Chloë Sevigny all featuring. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (who made those pulsating beats for Challengers) contribute the score, and the premise sounds suitably intriguing: a prestigious Ivy League institution is thrown into controversy after a promising student accuses a respected professor of assault. Expect a lengthy Oscar campaign to begin soon.
Bugonia
Another Yorgos Lanthimos-directed film starring Emma Stone. It’s not Déjà vu, the pair just really like working with each other. Bugonia reimagines 2003 South Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet! in Lanthimos’ usual eccentric fashion. Jesse Plemons also appears, after first collaborating with Lanthimos in Kinds of Kindness. He plays one of two conspiracy theorists who kidnap a CEO (Stone) because they believe she’s an alien bent on world domination.
Jay Kelly
George Clooney takes on the role of a suave movie star facing an identity crisis – a moment of not-so-subtle introspection, perhaps? – who goes on a listless adventure across Europe with his long-time manager, played by Adam Sandler. The pair weigh their life choices while pondering the legacies they’ll leave behind. Laura Dern, Riley Keough, Billy Crudup, Jim Broadbent, Lenny Henry and Greta Gerwig are among the ensemble cast.
A House of Dynamite
Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow makes her sensational return with A House of Dynamite, a tense exploration of the modern political landscape and its incendiary nature. In short: a missile is launched at the USA, and the race is on to determine who is responsible and what constitutes an appropriate response. Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson and Greta Lee take charge in a thought-provoking assessment of our over-reliance on atomic weapons.
The Wizard of the Kremlin
The Wizard of the Kremlin is Olivier Assayas’ account of Vladimir Putin’s rise to power. Adapted from Giuliano da Empoli’s novel of the same name, the film sees Jude Law transform into the KGB officer-turned-president. Paul Dano is a fictional member of Putin’s inner circle, who acts as a political strategist. Zach Galifianakis and Jeffrey Wright complete the ensemble. We’re promised an insight into Russia’s tumultuous recent history and how the cogs turn in a dictatorship.
The Testament of Ann Lee
Brady Corbet won the VFF’s best director prize last year for The Brutalist and nearly took home the Oscar for best director. Now he returns to Venice as the writer and producer of The Testament of Ann Lee, which is directed by his partner Mona Fastvold.
Those who thought The Brutalist was too long are in for a treat, because Ann Lee mercifully sticks to a standard 130 minute runtime – but that’s the only thing about it that can be called standard. It’s a musical, starring Amanda Seyfried – her first musical since Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again – and it’s about the titular Ann Lee. Lee founded the 18th-century religious sect known as the Shakers, so called because of their ecstatic behaviour during worship services. We don’t know what to expect, but our interest has been piqued.
When is the 2025 Venice Film Festival?
The 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival will commence on Wednesday, August 27th and run until Saturday, September 6th.
Who is attending the 2025 Venice Film Festival?
We won’t know precisely who will be attending the 2025 Venice Film Festival until the event is underway, but we can make some assumptions based on the casts of the films on the program. The big names include Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edibiri, Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Riley Keough, Laura Dern, Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jude Law, Paul Dano, Zach Galifianakis, Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Seyfried.
Related:
The most anticipated films of 2025
The best new series and films coming to Netflix Australia in August
