It took nearly a week, but the 81st annual Venice Film Festival welcomed this year’s biggest and perhaps best red carpet, as Brad Pitt, George Clooney and their respective partners celebrated the first official screening of Wolfs on Sunday night.
Brad, 60, looked his best as he made his red carpet debut with his glamorous girlfriend Ines de Ramon, 34, a jewelry designer with whom he has been dating for about two years.
It was a double date night as Brad’s good friend George, 63, hit the red carpet with his wife Amal, 46, an international human rights lawyer who had all eyes on her in a glamorous yellow dress.
In the film, George and Brad play criminal “clean-up specialists” who are unexpectedly hired for the same job: cleaning up a dead body in a hotel room.
The lead actors were reportedly paid $35 million each to appear in the film and demanded that it be released in theaters.
It took the better part of a week, but the 81st annual Venice Film Festival welcomed the biggest and perhaps best red carpet of this year’s ceremony, as Brad Pitt, George Clooney and their partners celebrated the first official screening of Wolfs on Sunday
Brad, 60, looked handsome as he made his red carpet debut with his glamorous girlfriend Ines de Ramon, 34, – a jewelry designer he has been dating for about two years – at the premiere
But maker Apple has changed its mind and the film, which according to insiders cost a total of around $200 million, will now only be shown in US cinemas for one week.
In all other territories, the film will be released directly to streaming, making it easily the most expensive TV movie ever.
Apple’s change of heart follows a string of high-budget films from the streamer, including Napoleon, Killers of the Flower Moon and Argylle, all of which flopped at the box office.
Clooney denied that the fees were as high as $35 million, saying the actual figure was “many millions less.”
But he added that it was “a disappointment” how things had turned out.
He said, ‘We would have liked to, we wanted to, and Brad and I took back some of our salaries to do that. We had some bumps along the way, and that happens.
“It’s a shame, of course it’s a shame, but a lot of people are going to see the movie and we’re getting a release in a couple hundred theaters. It would have been nice to get a wider release.”
He said the economics of streaming were still “being figured out,” but added: “We’re figuring it out. We need Apple and Amazon, and they need Sony or Warners, who have been doing it for 100 years.”
Pitt said: “I think it’s great that there are streamers because we get to see more stories and talent and it gets seen by more people. But it’s a delicate balance.”
When asked what it means for a film with two big stars to go straight to streaming services, Clooney responded dryly: “It’s clear we’re in decline.”
Ramon, who is also divorced, moved in with him in Los Angeles in February this year and they were spotted together in Venice earlier this week
It was a double date night as Brad’s longtime friend George, 63, hit the red carpet with his wife Amal, 46, an international human rights lawyer who turned heads in a glamorous yellow dress
In the film, George and Brad play criminal “cleanup” specialists who are unexpectedly hired for the same job: disposing of a body in a hotel room.
The lead actors were reportedly paid $35 million each to appear in the film, and had pushed for a theatrical release.
The two men have been friends for decades and last worked together 15 years ago in the film Burn After Reading.
Clooney said: ‘In Burn After Reading I had the enormous pleasure of shooting him in the face and we thought maybe 15 years later we’d try that again.
Brad and I have been doing this separately and together for a long time. Over time, it worked out pretty well. It felt like those jokes, the way we were going at each other all the time, it just felt easy.
The two men are now planning to star in a sequel, with Pitt saying: “We felt there had to be a good reason to be in a movie together, something we could build on. I also have to say that as I’ve gotten older, working with people I enjoy spending time with has become really important to me.”
Apple, which funded the project, spent more than £1 million last weekend renting the entire Cipriani hotel for Pitt, Clooney and their friends.
Those friends include Clooney’s agent Bryan Lourd, who accompanied Amal to a dinner on Saturday night, and Apple boss Tim Cook, who previously spent time with the Clooneys at their Lake Como vacation home.
Director Jon Watt is also there. He was absent after contracting Covid in Venice and has since flown home.
