Brad Pitt and George Clooney Whip Venice Film Festival Into a Frenzy With ‘Wolfs’ World Premiere

The Lido is in a frenzy for Wolfs.

Backed by the star power of its veteran A-list stars, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, the Jon Watts-directed film from Apple and Sony had a triumphant world premiere at the Venice Film Festival late Sunday night on the Lido. Expectedly, the crush of fans and media situated outside Palazzo del Cinema went wild for the pair as they arrived on the scene ahead of the screening. And once the final frames hit the screen and the credits rolled, Wolfs received a nearly five-minute standing ovation. Pitt and Clooney seemed to be soaking up the attention, with Pitt singing along to Sade and Clooney offering a “Grazie” to close it out.

Wolfs, also written by Watts, casts Pitt and Clooney as fixers who accidentally end up working the same job. Produced by Clooney’s Smokehouse and Pitt’s Plan B, the film also stars Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Poorna Jagannathan, Richard Kind and Zlatko Burić. Watts and Dianne McGunigle produced alongside Clooney, Pitt, Grant Heslov, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner. Michael Beugg served as executive producer.

Just last month, it was confirmed that a Wolfs sequel is in the works at Apple. The movie is also getting a limited theatrical release via Sony on Sept. 20, followed by a global launch on Apple TV+ on Sept. 27.

The appearance from two of Hollywood’s most beloved movie stars in Venice underscored a breakout theme at this year’s Venice Film Festival: Movie stars are back! Leading the pack are Pitt and Clooney. Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix will sing and slither their way back to Venice as DC villains in Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux. Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore return to the canals for The Room Next Door, Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language debut.

Daniel Craig toplines Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, which also stars Lesley Manville and Drew Starkey. Nicole Kidman is in Babygirl opposite Harris Dickinson and Antonio Banderas for filmmaker Halina Reijn. Cate Blanchett stars in Alfonso Cuarón’s small-screen series Disclaimer opposite Kevin Kline and Sacha Baron Cohen for Apple TV+.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton’s return to the underworld with a stacked cast, opened the festival with Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Willem Dafoe, Catherine O’Hara and Italian legend Monica Bellucci. A few more: Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist brings Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Joe Alwyn; Justin Kurzel’s The Order delivered Nicholas Hoult, Jude Law and Tye Sheridan, and more.

Brad Pitt and George Clooney embrace during warm nearly 5-minute standing ovation for Wolfs as Brad dances and sings along to Sade’s Smooth Operator. #Venezia81 pic.twitter.com/ktgjdx4Tnl

— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) September 1, 2024