George Clooney and Brad Pitt have returned to the Venice Film Festival for the world premiere of Wolfs.
Before hitting the red carpet, the Hollywood stars reflected on reuniting, the rise of streaming and Clooney’s New York Times op-ed urging US President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid.
Asked about the impact of his piece, Clooney said he’d not yet had to answer that question.
“The person who should be applauded is the president who did the most selfless thing anyone’s done since George Washington,” Clooney said on Sunday.
“All the machinations that got us there, none of that’s going to be remembered. And it shouldn’t be. What should be remembered is the selfless act.”
“It’s very hard to let go of power. We know that. We’ve seen that all around the world. For someone to say, I think there’s a better way forward? All credit goes to him.”
Most of the discussion was focused on the film, however, an old school action thriller directed by Jon Watts, in which they play lone wolf fixers unhappy to have been hired for the same job to cover up a bloody mess involving a district attorney.
The film will have a limited theatrical release, starting on September 20, before hitting Apple TV+ on September 27.
Apple TV+ acquired Wolfs in a competitive bidding war, beating out both traditional studios and rival streaming services.
Deadline reported in 2021 that the understanding was that it would come with a robust theatrical release, something the stars may have also forfeited money to ensure, the trade publication said. Then, several weeks ago the streamer announced different plans: Theatrical would be limited. Streaming would be quick.
Clooney confirmed that they did forfeit some of their salaries to guarantee a theatrical release and that it’s a “bummer” that it won’t be wider than a few hundred theatres.
Pitt added: “I think we’ll always be romantic about the theatrical experience but at the same time I love the existence of streamers … it’s a delicate balance. It’ll right itself.”
