The golden age of superhero movies has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean the juggernaut studios are calling it quits. Marvel and DC, currently the biggest players in the superhero genre, both took some time off to rework their plans for the future, and it looks like their decades-long rivalry might finally be revived.  1f6431

DC just suffered a huge hit with A-lister Daniel Craig dropping out from an movie, but they have their eye on someone who might give them a huge leg up over Marvel. 

Daniel Craig backs out of the DCU 37v73

Daniel Craig reportedly dropped out of ‘SGT ROCK’ due to scheduling conflicts.

However, some say he soured on the role after ‘QUEER’, his previous film with Luca Guadagnino, failed financially & in awards season.

(Source: https://t.co/y1MsvUPKeT) pic.twitter.com/fnZuW7fi5q

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) February 20, 2025

In 2024, Nexus Point broke the news that DC had tapped the writer-director duo Justin Kuritzkes and Luca Guadagnino to create their Sgt. Rock adaptation. The pair absolutely owned 2024, working on both Challengers and Queer, and fans were immediately excited at the thought of them helming a story like Sgt. Rock. 

The film will be a period piece set in the 50s and, not long after the announcement, DC had tapped Daniel Craig to star as the battle-hardened leader of the Easy Company unit.

Unfortunately, a report from The Hollywood Reporter today revealed that Craig has dropped out of the movie. Sgt. Rock would have seen Guadagnino and Kuritzkes united with Craig, who starred in Queer, but the actor reportedly stepped back from the role due to scheduling issues with his wife, Rachel Weisz. Other reports claim that Craig lost interest in the role after seeing the subpar box office performance Queer had after its release, as well as its lack of acknowledgment during award season.

Fans of Craig and Guadagnino find the latter reason hard to believe, as Guadagnino is a director known for his unique style and vision, not for box office blockbusters or award sweeps. Whatever the reason, DC didn’t hesitate to start looking for a replacement, and one prospective name piqued attention. 

DC eyes an actor who dared not to bow down to Marvel  3j1e1o

Jeremy Allen White reflects on a missed Marvel opportunity: "I had an attitude in the meeting. I asked, 'Why should I do your movie">Variety, DCU heads James Gunn and Peter Safran plan on making the movie a straightforward war story. 

The human element of the story and lack of super-powered shenanigans are in complete contrast with Marvel’s ever-increasing, multiversal scope, and might appeal to Jeremy Allan White. DC has not officially confirmed White’s involvement in the film, nor has it confirmed a release date for the feature, but seeing as it’s set to begin filming this summer, it shouldn’t be much longer until we receive word.

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Queer and Challengers were some of the highlights of the cinematic landscape in 2024, but perhaps what’s more impressive about the two films is that they were helmed by the same director, Luca Guadagnino.

If you couple his output over the last couple of years with his endless announced projects, including the American Psycho reboot starring Austin Butler, then Guadagnino might just be the busiest man in Hollywood. But the author of the book upon which American Psycho is based is here to rain on that parade and make a bold claim that the movie is just fake news.

Variety broke the news late last year that Butler had won the role and that an official offer to the actor was a matter of when, not if. The role had previously been assumed to be going to Jacob Elordi, but it seems somewhere in the final stages of casting, the executives and director preferred Butler to play the deranged Wall Street broker Patrick Bateman. Scott Z. Burns was also attached to adapt the book afresh.

However, the author of the original book, Bret Easton Ellis — a multi-hyphenate who is now a screenwriter and director in his own right with an HBO show, as well as a periodic podcast host — had some choice words about the announced remake of his beloved story. Ellis said:

“I have a feeling it’s fake news. I heard somewhere, from someone, that there are no contracts. Austin Butler hasn’t signed anything to play Patrick Bateman. Luca doesn’t have a deal. Scott Burns, who is supposed to write the screenplay, doesn’t have a deal either.”

Word of Reel reported that Ellis went on to explain in his podcast that he has a feeling the people involved in the remake are just testing the waters to see how audiences might respond to the idea of another Patrick Bateman before anyone actually puts pen to paper. He also reiterated that he’s not involved in any way with the remake.

For those who tune in to Ellis’ podcast, this is par for the course. He tends to be quite outspoken about pop culture and had even once, according to Indiewire, told Jacob Elordi’s director just how enthused he was to hear the actor had been cast in Oh, Canada. Apparently, the announcement gave him a very NSFW response in his pants.

What Ellis says might be true — the announcement might have just been a way to get people excited before these very busy professionals commit their schedules and wallets to something they’re somewhat sure the culture will respond to. We live in a world of reboots, sequels, and prequels, and it’s never easy for studios to know which property fans will respond to. Just recently, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was a smash hit with fans, while the more respected Lion King property, Mufasa, didn’t meet expectations. It’s hard even for insiders to explain that.

So, if Guadagnino and Butler want to confirm whether fans are even interested in a remake of American Psycho before pulling the trigger, then we can only commend them for that. Bret Easton Ellis is an obviously talented person, and this is his creation, so he’s always welcome to share his thoughts on where and how the story should go. But this was somewhat awkward oversharing — it came across to us like he’s in denial that the story is moving forward without him.

The streets are saying Luca Guadagnino’s remake of American Psycho was all a big hoax, and we’re kind of freaking out right now.

Okay, it wasn’t exactly the streets, it was American Psycho novelist Bret Easton Ellis (which is even more concerning) and he didn’t call it a “hoax” (or at least, not in so many words). Speaking on his podcast, the author of the controversial book that inspired Mary Harron’s 2000s cinematic cult classic said he “heard somewhere” that Guadagnino’s rumored remake is not currently on very solid ground, indeed.

According to the writer, neither the director, screenwriter Scott Burns, nor rumored star Austin Butler have signed actual documents attaching them to the project. As it stands, this hotly anticipated next step for the beloved and prolific Italian director and his would-be new protégé is very much just in the wind.

Ellis has a feeling the whole thing has been “fake news” from the start 91m24

You know how at the end of American Psycho you can’t really tell which parts of what you’ve just experienced actually happened or were just a product of Patrick Bateman’s imagination? Well, that’s sort of how we’re feeling right now after learning that the buzzy rumors about a reboot were, for now, possibly all just a testing of the waters. And well, if we’ve just spoiled the ending of the film for you, we’re sorry, but also it’s been 25 years and this is arguably still Christian Bale’s best performance, so, really, what are you waiting for to watch it?!

“From various sources that I have, this is just fake news that was put out there to see how an audience is going to react,” the novelist claimed. News of the supposed reboot first emerged in October, with Deadline reporting that the Challengers auteur was “in final negotiations” with Lionsgate to direct an American Psycho film from a script by the The Laundromat and Extrapolations scribe. Later, in December, Variety exclusively announced that Butler, one of the most coveted actors of his generation, was “poised to star” in the film.

While the language used in both articles is ultimately compatible with Ellis’ comments, it’s usually the case that publications like the ones mentioned only run these kinds of stories when the deals are on solid enough ground. As a result, both things can be true. Deals may not have been finalized as yet between Lionsgate and the three men linked to the new American Psycho, but the movie could still very much be in the works, unlike what the author has suggested.

We would be especially wary of throwing the expression “fake news” around, given the gravity actual misinformation poses in our society at large in the current climate, especially as it pertains to journalistic practice. With both Deadline and Variety having published reports about this film, we’re more inclined to believe that it is a work in progress rather than a façade to check the audience’s temperature.

In any case, if that’s truly what it was, then Lionsgate will probably want to get Guadagnino and Butler on the phone ASAP, because the buzz is very much real. Some is fueled by sheer excitement to see such a competent and fearless director and equally competent and fearless actor take on such a heady story, while another part comes from plain curiosity.

Film fans have expressed some anxiety about seeing a man take on Ellis’ book, arguing that it was Harron’s female sensibility that elevated his writing into the incisive movie 2000’s American Psycho wound up being. The story, of course, follows a violently misogynistic, self-obsessed New York City investment banker who goes on a murdering spree.

It’s been praised for its commentary on aggressively capitalistic, individualistic societies as well as corporate America. And we personally think a new Guadagnino adaptation would be a blast. So, it better be happening.

Luca Guadagnino’s take on American Psycho recently found its star in Austin Butler, but the internet can’t shake the idea that Jacob Elordi should be in the role instead.

For context, Guadagnino — known for films like Challengers and Call Me By Your Name — is on board to direct the horror satire, though it won’t be a remake of the 2000 film starring Christian Bale.

Instead, the film will be a more faithful adaptation of the original novel, written by Bret Easton Ellis and published in 1991. Under Guadagnino’s lens, this interpretation is said to focus more on the erotic elements of the source material, in keeping with the director’s films like Bones and All and Queer, as opposed to the 2000 film’s more slasher-friendly tendencies. 

Naturally, since Guadagnino has a knack for making a muse out of buzzy internet boyfriends like Timothee Chalamet, Drew Starkey, and Josh O’Connor, Euphoria star Jacob Elordi was long rumored to be cast in the title role of the new American Psycho. Speculation was only fuelled when images of the director and actor sharing a meal began circulating online, making it feel as though the Aussie heartthrob was all but confirmed to be the new Patrick Bateman. Unfortunately, those feelings were dashed with the reveal of Butler’s casting, and the internet reacted with an expected dose of both disappointment and hilarity.

“And nothing for Jacob Elordi,” one fan wrote in response to the news, with another adding that “WE WANTED JACOB ELORDI.” Others mourned the loss of both Elordi and fellow fan frontrunner Starkey, saying fans of those actors were “fighting just for Austin Butler to get the role.” Elsewhere, s imagined that “Jacob Elordi is somewhere punching a mirror” in response to the news, or mentioned the shared history between Butler and Elordi that might’ve made the latter’s loss of the role hit even harder. 

Butler and Elordi have played two very different versions of Elvis Presley in recent years, with the former taking on the title role of Baz Lurhman’s Elvis in 2022 and Elordi portraying the iconic singer in last year’s Priscilla. Beyond that, the pair also have a shared dating pool, having both been romantically linked to actress Kai Gerber. These connections, according to fans, bring an added layer of failure to Elordi losing out on the American Psycho role. “Austin Butler taking Kaia Gerber away from Jacob Elordi and now the American Psycho Luca role.” one fan wrote, with another quipping that Elordi has “been out-Elvis’d.” 

It’s an important reminder that while undeniably fun, fan-casting exercises often end in disappointment, but perhaps not all hope for an Elordi and Guadagnino is lost, since the actor has certainly been in Guadagnino’s orbit. The director has worked with Elordi’s Euphoria co-star Zendaya in Challengers, and the pair formed part of the same jury at the Marrakech Film Festival last month. 

In an even more promising collaboration, Guadagnino actually directed Elordi in a recent Chanel commercial that co-starred Margot Robbie, who will also appear alongside the actor in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights remake. Between Fennell and Guillermo del Toro — who is directing the Frankenstein adaptation, also starring Elordi — the actor already has a starry list of filmmaker collaborations, but here’s hoping he is still able fulfill fans’ wishes someday and become a Guadagnino muse.

Earlier this year, acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, Suspiria, Bones and All) teamed with scribe Justin Kuritzkes to unleash Challengers upon the world. A technically triumphant romantic drama driven by the leads of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, Challengers quickly established itself as the film to beat all the way back in April.

Whether or not it still holds that title is up for debate, but either way, Guadagnino and Kuritzkes could very much be in the process of upstaging themselves with Queer, the long-awaited, Daniel Craig-led historical romance film that just unearthed its first trailer, and it looks every bit as hypnotic as the names involved would suggest.

Based on the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name, the 1940s-set Queer stars Craig as William Lee, a man who has fled to Mexico City after evading capture during a drug bust in New Orleans. As he drifts through the city, surviving off of part-time jobs and military benefits, he encounters discharged Navy serviceman and drug Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), and his infatuation with him blooms.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross also return from Challengers as Queer‘s composers, but you wouldn’t know it from the trailer. Where the duo tends to base their film scores in electronica, this first glimpse at Queer features a soft, acoustic drift that punctuates the film’s apparent interest in tenderness, redemption, and revolutionary — even mutinous — love. And yet, undertones of urgency abound, as they would for a queer man navigating 1940s Mexico City, let alone one who barely dodged the consequences of a drug bust.

Starring alongside Craig and Starkey are Jason Schwartzman, Lesley Manville (The Crown), and Henry Zaga (The New Mutants). Producing with Guadagnino himself is Lorenzo Mieli, who also served as a producer on Challengers. Cinematographer and frequent Guadagnino collaborator Sayombhu Mukdeeprom is also on board, as especially indicated by the last couple of seconds of the trailer, which promises a film that’s as visually stunning an experience as the best of the best this year.

The film’s source material, published in 1985, was an extension of sorts to Burroughs’ 1953 novel Junkie, wherein the protagonist William (the same William played by Daniel Craig here) was navigating his addictions to morphine and heroine. Queer (the novel) follows the aftermath of William breaking away from drug use, and it looks as though a similar, if not identical, backstory has worked its way into the adaptation.

This is not the first time that Queer has been sought out for the big screen. Back in 2011, Oren Moverman (producer on The American Society of Magical Negroes) penned an adaptation of the novel that was due to be directed by Steve Buscemi. That production, of course, never got off the ground.

But this one did, and we’re going to go out on a limb and say it’s in far better hands with Guadagnino and his resident Avengers (sans Timothée Chalamet). And while it may be the job of trailers to make their subjects seem worthy of awards, the narrative promise that Queer has made here just might earn it a handful of nods in due time. But for now, all eyes are on the end of autumn for when Queer begins its limited theatrical run in the United States on Nov. 27.

Luca Guadagnino’s new tennis romance Challengers with Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor is the year’s hottest movie.

Not only are its three leads impossibly charismatic in their own right, but the Italian director also frames and shoots this court-side love triangle in ways that are a little racier than your usual sports drama. The film is about tennis, alright, but it transforms into an inherently sensual and even sexual practice. What’s interesting, however, is that there isn’t a single sex scene in the film — but more on that later.

In Challengers, Zendaya plays Tashi, a tennis prodigy whose career is cut short by a devastating injury, forcing her to pivot towards training one of her college boyfriends, Faist’s Art Donaldson. When the couple decides to play a Challenger tour tournament to increase the man’s competitive confidence, they’re surprised to learn he’ll be facing off against his former best friend and Tashi’s former ex-boyfriend, O’Connor’s Patrick Zweig.

The movie is a fiery, competitive, and at times psychological romance-coded drama, that has delighted critics and will most likely delight audiences too as it takes over theater rooms across the world.

Challengers‘ R rating, explained w5e1j

Films rated R are Restricted, meaning those under 17 should be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Challengers is rated R for “language throughout, some sexual content and graphic nudity.”

Although there are no sex scenes in the film, it does show genitalia and butts in non-sexual contexts, like in a locker room and a sauna. The characters use expletives recurrently, and there are quite a few steamy make-out sessions.

Although some are calling Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers the sexiest movie of the year, it’s relatively tame compared to other, more explicit productions. Most of the sexual tension is displayed in a tennis court, where characters stand many feet away from each other.

Challengers is now showing in theaters everywhere.

Luca Guadagnino’s mind is a wonderful, slightly terrifying place.

To think that the Italian director has made films as disparate and idiosyncratic as Suspiria, Call Me By Your Name, Bones and All, and now Challengers is as intoxicatingly exciting as it is fascinating. And he’s not showing any signs of slowing down either, taking on a slew of new projects for the foreseeable future, including a Mexico City-set historical romantic drama film with Daniel Craig that’s expected to premiere in the festival circuit as early as this Fall.

It’s equally thrilling that Challengers is Justin Kuritzkes’ first feature film screenplay. His wife, Celine Song, also made her writing and directing debut in Challengers‘ more introspective and sincere threesome sibling, 2023’s Past Lives.

Challengers is an absolute triumph, marked by what is arguably the best work to date by everyone involved, from Guadagnino and Kuritzkes to casting director Francine Maisler and score composers Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Sayombhu Mukdeeprom’s cinematography, Merissa Lombardo’s production design, and J. W. Anderson’s costume design add the final touches to a salacious, rambunctious, and decadently stylish movie for the ages.

The package of the film (the way it looks and plays out on screen) is glossy, intense, and sexy, keeping you tuned into every move just by virtue of its leading trio’s chemistry and the way Guadagnino captures it on camera. But what makes Challengers a Grand Slam is the meat, the filling. Kuritzkes’s character work in the duplicitous Tashi (Zendaya), the submissive Art (Mike Faist), and the unreliable Patrick (Josh O’Connor) is an infinite well of possibilities, allowing for a multitude of interpretations and dissections of these three people’s motivations, aspirations, self-sabotaging tendencies, and clashing egos. It’s intoxicating.

The film develops along two parallel timelines: In the present, Art and Patrick prepare to face off in a Challenger Tour tournament final as Tashi watches on from the stands, a visible scar on her knee from a career-ending injury peeking through her baby blue dress. Then Guadagnino takes us 12 years into the past to begin to lay out the knotty, sweaty events that have led the trio to that highly charged moment in New Rochelle.

Young best friends Art and Patrick are attending a junior tournament when they meet teen protegé, Tashi Duncan, who is already being marketed as tennis’ next big star. The two are instantly enamored by her ferociousness on the court and sensuality on the dance floor. Considering the object of their desires is Zendaya, it’s insanely easy to bite into their transfixion. The boys invite her over to their bedroom and the three almost engage in a three-way tryst, interrupted only by Tashi after she successfully proves her point about Art and Patrick’s latent interest in one another. It’s the beginning of a complicated, manipulative, lustful, and emotionally tumultuous decade-spanning love triangle, cleverly translated by Guadagnino into the evolution of that initial/final confrontation.

The way the form of Challengers (its acts, its dialogues, and even its camera movements) mimics a tennis match is nothing short of delicious. Guadagnino’s vision for Kuritzkes’s remarkably rich characters and the dynamics that they share is as clear as it is inspired — he was the only man for this job.

Challengers is a movie about sex and power, and there’s so much power in the way Guadagnino frames his cast’s innate sexuality without showing a single sex scene in the entirety of the film’s runtime. The sexiest scenes are often those where the characters barely touch — it’s the tension created from their desperate necessity and desire to touch that actually drives the film’s erotic charge. It’s masterful.

Tennis, in truth, is a metaphor for human relationships. As Tashi describes early on, a tennis match requires that the two players be completely engaged with one another, blocking out the rest of the world, and focusing solely on their opponent. There’s an obsession with and attraction to your court partner that is intrinsic to the game of tennis and which functions as the key to the entire film. Each decision made by Tashi, Art, and Patrick is essentially a shot in a match, and as each of the men attempts to gradually win each game, and then each set, it all builds up to a closely contested final match point that Guadagnino crafts into one of the most memorable third acts in 21st-century moviemaking — and that is true for both the tennis itself and all the sex, betrayal, and heartbreak it signifies.

Challengers‘ biggest victory, however, is the way it involves each of the three players proportionally in the unfolding of its story. The heterosexual love triangle has been absolutely exhausted in the past, but, as you’d expect, Guadagnino brings a queer sensitivity to his threesome that transforms a tired trope into an electric, alive thing that could evolve any which way at any point. While an even bigger step in that direction would have possibly made Challengers perfect, the fact that the possibility is there alone increases its agitation and complexity tenfold. Art, Tashi, and Patrick dance with and around each other through the years as they sink into an increasingly toxic and self-harmful entanglement that is both killing them and keeping them afloat.

There is so much duplicity, ambiguity, secrecy, and manipulation at the center of Art, Tashi, and Patrick’s relationship from the very first moment the boys lay eyes on their muse, that it becomes virtually impossible to decipher their choices, but all the more fun to try. On the surface, they’re all one thing, but as the film and the tennis match of life evolve, they each reveal small clues about their personalities that could fuel a thousand theories. It’s like catnip for overreaders.

This sophistication of character, we assume, was not an easy task for the leading trio, but they handled it like pros. Zendaya was perfectly cast as the irresistible Tashi, bringing a disarming superficial innocence to an otherwise cunning and calculated woman. She toys around with the two men that she holds in the palm of her hand, yet you never can turn against her, because their obsession and lack of shame are often too pathetic to feel defensive over, especially because Art and Patrick do their fair share of manipulation, too. O’Connor’s Patrick and Faist’s Art play so well off of Zendaya’s Tashi, but better yet off of one another — a scene they share in a fittingly steamy sauna is a highlight in the film, and their chemistry is sizzling enough to travel across an entire tennis court.

It’s truly never been more fun to watch three people be absolutely despicable to one another than in Luca Guadagnino’s tennis court love story. Challengers is a 2024 must-watch, and possibly the year’s sleekest, most vibrant film. Now, excuse me while I go drive my neighbors insane by blasting Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score at full volume on my speakers.

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Luca Guadagnino’ Challengers.

While director Luca Guadagnino is no stranger to success, Challengers is arguably his best movie yet. With a trio of Oscar-worthy performances by Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, Challengers is a sports game like no other, where tennis is secondary to the intricate web of human emotions Guadagnino weaves on the silver screen.

As the movie’s title betrays, the story occurs in a Challengers tournament, where tennis players compete to get to the qualifiers of big professional tournaments. On one side of the field is Patrick Zweig (O’Connor), a struggling player who never got a chance to play in the big leagues. His opponent, Art Donaldson (Faist), is one of the top players in the world, attending a small competition to build up his confidence before going for the US Open. In the crowd, there’s Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), who watches closely as the duel between Patrick and Art escalates.

Instead of sticking to the present moment, Challengers uses extensive flashbacks to explain the complicated relationship between the movie’s three main characters. In doing so, Guadagnino reveals what’s really at stake – and it’s not a trophy.

What’s really at stake in the final match? 5e2b6l

Tashi was a fierce tennis player who signed an Adidas contract before beginning her professional run. She was destined to make tennis history, but an accident during a match robbed her of her glory. Now, Tashi is married to Art, who she coaches to achieve everything she can’t. By winning the US Open, Art will get his Carrer Grand Slam, which in tennis lingo means winning all four major international championships in the same season. Winning is everything for Tashi, who pushes Art to the brink so he can get what she never could.

In turn, Art worships Tashi and sacrifices his individuality to make his wife happy. He wants to quit tennis and pursue other dreams but keeps playing because that’s what Tashi thinks is better. It’s tragic, as Art trades his happiness for Tashi’s glory. Meanwhile, the fact that Art never challenges her pushes the couple apart since Tashi needs more than an obedient servant.  Despite their success and beautiful daughter, the power couple drowns in resentment and regret, all in the name of tennis victory.

To make matters even more complicated, Patrick was once Art’s best friend and Tashi’s lover. Patrick is wild, impulsive, and always stands his ground. He excites Tashi, and they have a primal sexual connection. However, she needs to control her partner, which Patrick can’t accept. That’s why they eventually broke up, and Tashi ended up with Art. As for Patrick and Art, their unbreakable bond was shattered because of Tashi, with Art taking her side on the separation and feeding his jealousy for years. Art knows he can never fulfill Tashi’s needs as Patrick did. This fact turns into a bitter grudge after Art sees things that raise a red flag about Tashi and Patrick having an affair, burying the two men’s friendship.

Tashi did cheat on Art with Patrick eight years before the Challengers competition. She does it again on the evening before the finals when Art and Patrick will face each other for the first time since they were teenagers. Tashi tries to convince Patrick to lose the match on purpose so Art can boost his ego and win the US Open. Patrick agrees but underlines that it is a bigger treason than just having sex with his former best friend.

That’s what’s at stake in the final match of the Challengers. Art wants to prove himself and beat his old friend, which he never did when they were young. The victory would prove Art is a true champion. It would also symbolize Art’s ultimate triumph against Tashi’s lover, who’s always casting a shadow over their marriage. 

On the other hand, Patrick must beat Art to get his last chance as a professional tennis player. However, we want to keep his word to Tashi, as he still feels terrible about everything that went down in their past. Finally, Patrick wants Art to have his glory, so he tells Tashi he will put up a challenge before forfeiting the match.

Tashi is playing with the fate of Patrick and Art to get what she wants, and she wants it all. Nevertheless, things don’t go as planned, with all three characters meeting a surprising ending.

Who wins the Challengers tournament? 2ja6b

The short answer could be: Art. Yet, things are more complicated than that, and we could argue everyone wins.

After an intense match, Patrick intentionally misses a couple of shots to give Patrick the victory. However, when Art is one point away from victory, Patrick changes his mind, making a hand signal that reveals he had an affair with Tashi. Art is furious and lets Patrick score some free points so they can both be one step away from victory. The rules are settled. The differences must be solved in the field, and no one will give up this time.

An exhilarating montage follows in which Patrick and Art show their tennis prowess. The ball ricochets from one side of the field to the other as each player lets all their rage melt away all the walls they built between them. Art performs a mighty blow that wins him the victory, and the two old friends lock their arms in a warm embrace. From the stand, Tashi screams with joy, celebrating Art’s victory.

When Patrick decides to tell Art the truth in the middle of the game, he shows how much he respects his old friend. Patrick cannot do what Tashi wants because he understands Art must be free to achieve his goals regardless of his wife’s desires. Patrick is tired of seeing Art as Tashi’s puppet, and he pushes his friend’s limits to set him free. That’s precisely what he gets.

Art wins more than the Challengers’ trophy in the match. He rediscovers his tennis ion, which he first found when he played with Patrick as a friend. Years of duty and obedience shatter, and he feels joy playing for the first time in many years. He also understands the gift Patrick is offering him and realizes how foolish he has been for shunning away his friend. Art and Patrick’s bond is stronger than Tashi’s grasp, and their embrace heals all old wounds, turning them into brothers once more.

Finally, while Tashi has dedicated her life to becoming a champion, she yearns for a tennis match in which the sport reveals the truth about the players. That kind of connection got severed due to her injury, and she never again witnessed the intensity of the sport — at least until the Challengers’ final match. When Patrick and Art play the final set, they bare their souls in front of the audience, a spectacle that reminds Tashi of how she felt while playing. It’s a moment of utter jubilation for Tashi and the thrill she needs to feel complete.

Tennis is just a ball, two players, and a few rules. Yet, Guadagnino turned it into a beautiful and intense festival of raw human emotion.

True to her name, Mia Goth has become synonymous with the horror genre. From Luca Guadagnino to Lars von Trier, the actor has worked with the best filmmakers in the genre.

However, her partnership with Ti West has gained her the most attention. The MaXXXine will be her third film with the director, completing the X trilogy. The horror franchise has demonstrated Goth’s range, from portraying multiple characters who, at their heart, believe that they are stars. And judging from the actor’s previous roles, they aren’t the only ones. Goth has an impressive resume of films that spans the comedic to the audacious.

7. Suspiria 3s1b4u

Guadagnino’s remake of the Dario Argento classic was a divisive film but helped Goth’s ascent up the horror hierarchy. Adapted from the 1977 film of the same name, Suspiria charts Susie’s (Dakota Johnson) entrance to a prestigious dance school that’s not quite what it seems. Similar to its predecessor, the film depicts the spooky happenings at the school that ultimately lead to witchcraft.

But it is where the similarities end. The two versions of Suspiria are ultimately about very different things, and how it depicts those things is not always very effective. But Goth fits right at home in the film as Sara, one of Susie’s classmates. The ing role of Sara is integral to this film, showing exactly how horrific witchcraft can get. If there are weaknesses in the film, it doesn’t come from Goth’s acting ability. 

6. A Cure For Wellness 5k5jy

After his success with 2002’s The Ring, Gore Verbinksi returns to the horror genre. Inspired by the book, The Magic Mountain, the film weaves contemporary visuals with gothic sensibilities. After Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) goes looking for his CEO at a wellness spa, he quickly learns that it is not so easy to escape. While trapped, he meets Hannah (Goth), who believes in the lies that the wellness center is spreading.

A Cure For Wellness may not be ed as fondly as Verbinski’s other horror contribution, but the film is still an ambitious take on a familiar story. Goth exudes naivete and eeriness in the role of Hannah and is a driving force of the film.

5. Nymphomaniac  1s1f22

Actors have to get their big break somehow, and it seems par for the course that Goth would get it on the set of a Lars von Trier movie. The director is controversial for his harrowing subject matter, but the young actor couldn’t have been happier to get the role of, P in her feature film debut. She spoke to Collider’s Ladies’ Night about the experience of working on Nymphomaniac.

“It feels divine almost, if I can say that. It created a blueprint for me in of the kind of material that I wanted to work on with the types of directors and that kind of caliber of cast. I was incredibly fortunate to have that as my first project. It really kind of set the field for me in of what it is I’m aspiring to do.”

Nymphomaniac was an irable benchmark for Goth’s future in similar types of films and the movie is largely accepted as a decent entry into the director’s filmography. The young actor enters Part II of the film as a 15-year-old daughter of criminals and naturally enters a world of debauchery. True to her word, this was a platform for Goth, who would go on to find a niche in other films of its kind.

4. Emma. 6v4p59

The 2020 Jane Austen adaptation is a stark departure from Goth’s previous roles but a welcome change of pace. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular matchmaker who finds purpose through making marital matches in recency England. Goth portrays Emma’s friend Harriet, who inadvertently becomes a romantic rival for the affections of Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn). 

Emma. is undeservingly not ed as well as Pride & Prejudice, despite featuring a more compelling central character. Emma has to confront her selfishness and realize that she wasn’t helping Harriet find a husband through any real sense of altruism. The comedy shows that Goth can pursue other types of subject matter, even if horror is where she is comfortable.

3. Infinity Pool 5g432c

In typical Cronenberg fashion, 2020’s Infinity Pool is a collage of violence, sex, and gratuitousness. Though not as concise a film as Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor, it evokes similar feelings of discomfort while telling a compelling story about what the rich do to relax. Couple James (Alexander Skarsgård) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman) vacation on a fictional island to help the former ease his writer’s block. But they aren’t far into their trip to Li Tolqa before meeting a hedonistic couple, Gabi (Goth) and Al (Jalil Lespert).

Infinity Pool is a satirical conversation about escalating behavior. James becomes enamored with the couple as they do more daring and frankly criminal activities. The actors take the subject material and run with it, developing truly unhinged performances.

2. X 22556q

The film that cinched Goth’s fame as a contemporary scream queen, X is an art project at its best. While ultimately a traditional slasher flick, West’s film is made with love. An homage to the grindhouse films of the ‘70s, X gives off the impression that it is shot on 16 mm to tell the story of a low-budget porn film made in the heart of Texas.

And if you didn’t know it yet, Maxine (Goth) wants to be a star. She doesn’t care if she has to act in porn or commit murder, this is the life she is committed to having. She is so devoted to her dream that when their landlord’s wife starts knocking them off one by one, she is the last person standing. Goth’s charisma and commitment to the material created a legend and led to the best film of her career. 

1. Pearl 4s386l

If you thought X would be Goth’s magnum opus, think again. She and West impressed once again in the 2022 follow-up, Pearl. This time, Goth doesn’t play Maxine but the titular villain of the first film. Shot in technicolor to cement the film in its period, viewers watch to see how Pearl became the person she was always meant to be.

Stifled by a safe marriage and dreams of stardom, Pearl quickly decides that murder is the best way to get what she wants. West takes risks with the filming of the movie, most importantly in the final act. Goth shows how underrated she is as an actor as she performs an entire monologue in one straight shot. Pearl cries and makes us feel for her, regardless of what she has done or where she ends up. Pearl is the best film to watch ahead of the arrival of MaXXXine.

Never one to rest on her laurels, Zendaya is already having quite a year. The 2024 Euphoria off-season has found the prominent actress starring in the critical darling Dune: Part Two as well as the highly-anticipated tennis drama Challengers.

Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi follow-up to Dune has made its mark on the box office as well as Zendaya’s career, but in addition to her role as Chani, she’s taking center stage in a steamy drama from the mind of Luca Guadagnino. The director has helmed acclaimed films such as A Bigger Splash and Call Me By Your Name, but this film and its star are already being celebrated in a way that might eclipse both.

Challengers centers around a love triangle in the world of competitive sports. After Zendaya’s tennis prodigy Tashi loses out on a career opportunity due to an injury, she becomes a coach for her husband, Art (Mike Faist). During Art’s losing streak, he must compete on and off the court against his former best friend ⏤ and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend ⏤ Patrick (Josh O’Connor). Judging from Guadagnino’s filmography, the film may be more than a little….provocative. The director is known for pushing the envelope with his relationships on film and the same may be the case for Challengers when it premieres. This naturally makes us wonder…

What is Challengers rated, and is it appropriate for young audiences? 356m5

Guadagnino does not disappoint in his newest venture. Challengers is rated R, as are many of his films, and considering that this one centers around a steamy love triangle, the R rating is not at all surprising. The trailer isn’t shy about depicting Tashi’s willingness to invite the two men in her life to her at the same time, and the MPAA has given Challengers its R rating for language, sexual content, and graphic nudity. All this to say, you’ll want to leave the kids at home for this one.

While viewers may think they know what they’re getting themselves into with the film, there might still be a few surprises up Challengers‘ sleeve. When asked what attracted him to the project in the first place, Guadagnino told Collider, “Many elements. The great script from Justin Kuritzkes, sexy and fun, and never done something like that. Working with Amy Pascal, who I adore, who I feel, respectfully to her wonderful husband, I feel married with. And Zendaya, of course, she’s just inspiring and sublime. So there were so many great elements that I couldn’t say no, basically. I was like, I have to say yes.”

Undoubtedly, the main draw of Challengers is Zendaya, who also served as a producer on the film. Her recent choices of roles have shown her range in the entertainment industry and she’s sure to impress audiences yet again when the film premieres in theaters on April 26.

You would think there is little that fazes Zendaya on a movie set, but her latest collaboration with Call Me My Your Name and Bones and All director Luca Guadagnino definitely lived up to its title. In Challengers, the young starlet pays a tennis champion-turned coach and, for that, Zendaya had to actually learn to play the sport.

“I’m terrified,” the Emmy-winning actress told Elle about her experience on set pretending to play tennis. Despite three months of training where she learned the basics of footwork, arm movement, and stance, Zendaya still felt embarrassed when it was time to put it to practice on camera.

“The more I had to pretend to do tennis in front of a camera with an audience, the more terrified I felt,” she shared, jokingly adding that she wasn’t even using a real ball. We wonder whether that didn’t make it all the more difficult.

In the film, her character, Tashi Duncan, has to play the U.S. Open, which means the day those scenes were filmed, Zendaya was playing tennis for an audience. The whole thing turned out to be more of a challenge than she thought. “I’m just doing the form and footwork and getting my swing right and doing it in front of a whole bunch of people as if it’s the U.S. Open, and I’m terrified,” she continued.

Tashi eventually suffers a career-ending injury and turns to coaching, at which point she signs up her husband Art, played by West Side Story‘s Mike Faist, for a Challenger event. The film turns the heat meter all the way up when Art’s opponent turns out to be Patrick (The Crown‘s Josh O’Connor), his former best friend, and Tashi’s former lover. Love triangles and threesomes ensue.

Zendaya credited co-stars Faist and O’Connor with motivating her to work out in preparation for the role. Since the actress isn’t the biggest fan of hitting the gym, the laughs her on-screen beaus provided were entirely welcome.

Challengers was one of the most anticipated films of the year before its release date was pushed to April 26, 2024, as a result of the studios refusing to negotiate with writers and actors amid a historic double strike that has basically put Hollywood on hold. As for Zendaya, she will probably be relieved that the world won’t have to see her tennis skills so soon (though we’re sure she’s as great as always).

Fans of Euphoria can now get a first look at one of their favorite stars, Zendaya, in the romantic sports comedy film Challengers following the release of the film’s first trailer.

Based on a script by Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers tells the story of Tashi, a former player turned coach who, until recently, had molded her husband Art into a top-tier tennis player. But when Art starts losing, he enters a challenger tournament to get back on track. Along the way, he has to compete against Patrick, Tashi’s ex and best buddy from their teenage years. Mike Faist, best known for his big screen debut in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story as Riff, captain of the Jets, for which he won praise and a nomination for a BAFTA, s Zendaya and Josh O’Connor. 

In an interview with Variety, Luca Guadagnino lauded Zendaya’s dedication to her part, saying the actress spent three months training with professional coach and former player Brad Gilbert, also a consultant for the film. Zendaya will also have a significant part as a producer. 

Challengers is sure to follow in the footsteps of Guadagnino’s other works, which are known for their emotional depth, sensuality, and opulent aesthetics. Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, Timothée Chalamet, and Michael Stuhlbarg are just a few of the actors he has worked with frequently. Guadagnino’s films I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), and Call Me by Your Name (2017) make up his acclaimed Desire trilogy. In addition, he directed the horror comedy Bones and All (2022). 

Challengers‘ world premiere will happen during the 80th Venice Film Festival. The film will be available in the United States on 15 September 2023, pushed back from its original release date of 11 August.