Last July, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” was pulled from its opening night spot at the Venice Film Festival. Amazon then delayed its September release to an April of 2024 launch. Here’s a new trailer. The film looks like Guadagnino’s most commercial effort.
“Challengers” stars the trio of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist. Guadagnino directs, based on a script by Justin Kuritzkes. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are scoring this one.
The story revolves around a young tennis prodigy (Zendaya) who is the object of affection of two male players (Faist and O’Connor). Then she hurts her knee, leading to her settling down, marrying Faist’s character and choosing a life as a coach. Obviously, years later, the other guy still wants her.
I’m not sure where I currently stand with Guadagnino. I liked his first three breakouts (“I Am Love,” “A Bigger Splash” and “Call Me By Your Name”), was puzzled by his remake of “Suspiria” — which I plan to give a rewatch, sometime soon —and was disappointed by 2022’s “Bones and All.”