I’d love it if David Fincher’s The Adventures of Cliff Booth (Netflix, 11.25.26) were to debut at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, and of course this possibility has been kibboshed by Fincher…of course it has!
“The sun isn’t yellow, it’s chicken” — Bob Dylan.
I’d naturally want to catch both of the big social-media-meets-AI flicks — not just Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning (Sony, 10.9.26) but also Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial (Amazon MGM) — and yet Amazon is apparently ducking this because, according to Tatiana Siegel, they’re apparently scared of going up against the Sorkin, or being associated with it general-topic-wise.
And so Artificial isn’t even being discussed as a Venice possibility. Of course it’s not! The Sorkin will probably premiere there however.
(I’ve been told that Amazon (a) loves Artificial and (b) isn’t even slightly scared of The Social Reckoning. Okay, but why have they reportedly decided to open the Guadagnino in early ‘27?)
The Sorkin aside, the only locked-in Venice titles I feel genuinely excited by are (a) Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine (Searchlight, 11.6), (b) Anton Corbijn A Talent for Murder (Bleecker Street) and (c) some portion of season 2 of Seth Rogen ‘s The Studio, particularly the Madonna-starring episodes shot last March during a staged Venice Film Festival.
I’m sure I’ll develop some degree of enthusiasm for other Venice ‘26 titles down the road, but right now I’m feeling a certain amount of despair.
Here are Jordan Ruimy’s latest spitballs:
