Venice Film Festival unveils 2026 lineup with Pattinson, Oasis and Musk documentaries

Competition lineup and opening

Organizers of the Venice Film Festival unveiled the 2026 program on Thursday, with 20 films competing for the Golden Lion over the September 2-12 festival. The competition will open with "Ink," Danny Boyle's film about press baron Rupert Murdoch's transformation of the British media. Other in-competition titles include Lance Oppenheim's "Primetime" about an American TV show that sought to expose pedophiles, starring Robert Pattinson, who is fresh from his performance as the villainous Antinous in current box-office champion "The Odyssey."

Limited Hollywood studio presence

The lineup lacks major Hollywood studio support, a pattern seen at other European festivals this year. US majors blanked the Berlin festival in February and Cannes in May, while Netflix and Amazon, which brought big-budget films to Venice last year, have mostly steered clear this year. Some observers had expected Alejandro González Iñárritu's "Digger," starring a barely recognizable Tom Cruise as an overweight oil baron, to make a splashy entrance on the Lido, but it does not feature in the announced program.

Oasis and Musk documentaries

The Disney-produced documentary "Don't Look Back in Anger" about Manchester rock band Oasis and their comeback tour last year will premiere at Venice, with festival director Alberto Barbera telling reporters the Gallagher brothers have promised to attend. Also screening is a four-hour exploration of Elon Musk by American director Alex Gibney, which Barbera said "traces the whole career, the contradictions, and the power that is centralised in the hands of a single man." The Oasis documentary is described as an exception to the broader pullback by major US studios and streamers.

International auteurs and political cinema

Other competition highlights include "Wild Horse Nine," a dark comedy by Ireland's Martin McDonagh starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, and "Bunker" by Florian Zeller featuring Spanish stars Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. German veteran Werner Herzog returns with "Bucking Fastard," featuring sisters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara. Two of Asia's most acclaimed filmmakers, Japan's Hirokazu Koreeda ("Shoplifters") and South Korea's Lee Chang-dong ("Burning"), are also in the lineup. Political films tackle state repression in Hungary ("Ground Floor" by Gabor Reisz), Belarus ("Letters From The Silenced Country" by Andrei Kutsila), and Iran ("A Bit of Light" by Ali Asgari), with several titles addressing violence in Israeli-controlled Palestinian territory, including "Citizen Osama" by Ahmed Hassouna, following a photojournalist documenting events in Gaza.

Jury and festival details

The main competition jury will be headed by American actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, who will also present a short film about Marilyn Monroe starring Dakota Johnson and Ellen Burstyn. The festival runs September 2-12 on the Venice Lido.

Follow-up signals

The next verifiable milestone is the festival's opening day on September 2, when Danny Boyle's "Ink" will screen, followed by the Golden Lion awards ceremony at the close of the festival on September 12.