Brad Pitt and George Clooney showed off their charms at the Venice Film Festival to present the action comedy out of competition. Wolves (“Wolves”), which will be released this month on Apple TV+, and have defended the coexistence of traditional platforms and distributors in today’s film industry.
“We need streaming, it’s part of what we do, but they also benefit from traditional distribution, it’s a revolution that we are experiencing in our industry,” Clooney said at a press conference.
Pitt seconded it: “We’ll always be romantic about the cinematic experience, but I love that the platforms exist because there are more stories and more talent than ever before. It’s a delicate balance that has to be struck, but I think that will write itself.”
Wolves will have a limited theatrical release in the United States and will air on Apple TV+ worldwide starting September 27. The platform has already ordered a sequel from Jon Watts, its director and creator, who did not attend the press conference after testing positive for covid.
In the film, Pitt and Clooney play two professional criminals who are experts in disposing of bodies. They are two “lone wolves” and rivals but they are forced to collaborate in a case where nothing goes as planned.
The acting couple had already demonstrated their chemistry in the saga of The ocean and in Burn after reading (Burn after reading2008) by the Coen brothers, and although they wanted to work together again, they did not find scripts good enough, as they stated.
“As I get older, it’s more important for me to work with people that I enjoy spending time with,” Pitt said alongside a Clooney who couldn’t help but crack jokes, feigning the same rivalry they display on screen.
Brad Pitt and George Clooney at the Venice Film Festival presenting “Wolfs”. Photo: EFE/EPA/FABIO FRUSTAC.
“I’m a lot younger than him, even though I know I don’t look it,” Clooney said, trying to explain how the chemistry and friction in dialogue that has earned them comparisons to movie couples like Paul Newman and Robert Redford work, as do Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau or Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
Both have diversified their careers from acting to producing or, in Clooney’s case, directing. “What moves us is the same: telling a good story, whether it’s as a producer or an actor,” Pitt said. “It can be done from different places, in front of the camera or behind the camera, but what matters is telling universal stories that move people.”
Clooney said he felt lucky to be able to continues to devote himself to what he loves at 63. “One of the reasons we produce and I also write from time to time is that we want to continue working in an industry that we love. I haven’t performed much in recent years and I was eager to get back.” The actor recalled that when he was young he had more difficult jobs, such as picking tobacco on a farm, so for him it was “like child’s play.”
Regarding the type of stories that interest them, Pitt stressed that cinema is a way to “talk about our times and say where we want to be” and Clooney clarified that a film is not like a newsreel, but rather needs to have more perspective and reflection.
Clooney also addressed Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the US election race shortly after the actor added his voice to those calling for his replacement, in an op-ed published in the New York Times, and said: “deserves applause” for his selfless character.
“What will be remembered is this altruistic act, it is very difficult to leave power, we have seen it all over the world, that someone is able to recognize that there is a better option, that is what matters and the rest will not be,” recalled.
