Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s new film “Wolfs” premieres in Venice

VENICE, Italy (AP) — George Clooney and Brad Pitt returned to the Venice Film Festival on Sunday for the world premiere of “Wolfs”.

Before stepping onto the red carpet, the Hollywood stars talked about their reunion, the rise of streaming and Clooney’s New York Times Commentary and called on President Joe Biden to abandon his bid for re-election.

When asked about the impact of his piece, Clooney said he had not had to answer that question yet.

“The person who should be applauded is the president who performed the most selfless act since George Washington,” Clooney said. “All the machinations that got us there, none of it will be remembered. And it shouldn't be. What should be remembered is the selfless act.”

Clooney continued: “It's very difficult to give up power. We know that. We've seen it all over the world. For someone to say, 'I think there's a better way forward?' All the credit goes to him.”

Most of the discussion, however, revolved around the film, a classic action thriller directed by Jon Watts in which the two play lone gunmen unhappy about being hired for the same job: covering up a bloody mess involving a district attorney (played by Amy Ryan).

The film will be released in limited theaters starting September 20 before arriving on Apple TV+ on September 27. Apple TV+ acquired “Wolfs” in a bidding war, beating out both traditional studios and rival streaming services.

Deadline reported in 2021 that the film was expected to have a wide theatrical release, for which the stars may have sacrificed money, according to the trade publication. A few weeks ago, the streamer then announced other plans: The theatrical release will be limited. Streaming will be quick.

Clooney confirmed that they had given up part of their salaries to guarantee a theatrical release and that it was “a bummer” that the film would not be shown in more than a few hundred theaters.

“We would have liked it, we wanted it. That's why Brad and I gave back some of our money,” he said, adding that a report in the New York Times had overestimated their salaries by millions.

However, Clooney is by no means against streaming, saying that during this revolution, everyone has to find their own way. While there are obstacles and mistakes, there are also many more opportunities for actors, he said.

“Streaming is something we need, our industry needs,” Clooney said. “They also benefit from releasing movies… and we're figuring it out, we haven't figured it out yet.”

Producer and Plan B manager Jeremy Kliner, who has worked with Pitt for over 20 years, said they make their films believing in their shelf life and that they are doing something meaningful.

Pitt added: “I think we'll always find the cinema experience romantic, but at the same time I love the existence of streamers… it's a delicate balance. It will work itself out.”

Although both are regular performers at the picturesque festival (Clooney's premieres include “Gravity” and “Good Night and Good Luck” and Pitt's premieres include “Ad Astra” and “The Assassination of Jesse James…”), they have only appeared on stage together once. No, it wasn't for an Ocean's film. It was in 2008, at the premiere of “Burn After Reading,” the mad Coen brothers' farce, in which they share a memorable scene.

“In 'Burn After Reading,' I had the extreme pleasure of shooting him in the face, and I thought maybe we'll try it again 15 years later,” Clooney said, laughing.

The two teased each other about their age and importance. Clooney joked that Pitt was 74 and was lucky to still be working at his age. (Clooney is 63, by the way. Pitt is 60.)

Pitt was waiting for a good idea to reunite with Clooney on screen and thought the idea of ​​two cleaning ladies who think they're the best was funny. Having worked together for years, their quips and dialogue overlaps were natural.

“The older I get, the more important it is to me to work with the people I really enjoy spending time with,” Pitt said.

When they got the script, they said Watts hadn't specified who would play which role, so Pitt and Clooney picked up the phone and figured it out themselves.

Pitt arrived at the festival just days after his ex. Angelina Joliewho received great praise for her role as opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” and left Italy shortly afterwards for another festival.

Pitt and Jolie had been together for ten years when they married in 2014. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 and in 2019 a judge declared the two single. However, the divorce proceedings are still ongoing as custody and financial issues remain disputed. A few weeks agoA court in Los Angeles has granted the request of the former couple's third eldest child to officially change her name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie.

The film's director, who moved from independent films to the Spider-Man films with Tom Holland, said in a director's statement that in this film he is trying to get back on the road after “seven years of swinging from skyscrapers and jumping through multiverse portals.” He was unable to speak to his stars about the film after testing positive for COVID-19.

“He flew all the way here and then caught COVID,” Clooney said. “So now we're all going to get it.”

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