The thermometer says otherwise, and Starbucks and Home Depot declared Halloween season open during August, but Labor Day weekend is to me still the actual end of the summer season. For creatives–especially moviemakers–it’s the beginning of the long and arduous road to more significant seasons than fall–the next summer box office, to be sure, but far more towards awards season which pretty much dominates the winter calendar. In the space of a fortnight, they’re shuttling all over the world for a Big Three confluence that’s exchanging Hamptons and Malibu parties for red carpets and glam–and, most of all, a chance to show the tastemakers and pundits exactly what they were bragging about at those summer gatherings.
The truly elite and lucky got to be in Italy last week–among them being the very fortunate DEADLINE scribes
The 2026 Venice Film Festival got underway on Wednesday, September 2, with Oscar-winning English director Danny Boyle’s Ink — starring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy — kicking off an 83rd edition that includes films starring the likes of Robert Pattinson, Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem, Jack Huston & Sofia Boutella, Dakota Johnson, John Malkovich & Sam Rockwell, Alicia Vikander & Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte and Kate & Rooney Mara in their first movie together.
Studio titles largely are absent this year, but the overall lineup also includes new films by Luca Guadagnino, Paul Schrader and Wim Wenders along with Laura Poitras’ short about ICE protests in Minnesota, and Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’s doc on the comeback of rock band Oasis.
Naturally, I’m attracted to any story involving someone who used to pay me a lot of money, and it appears Hammond and Wise wasas well:
Boyle with his whip-smart, in-your-face stye is the perfect filmmaker to bring this world set in 1969 London to life as the brash if trash visionary Rupert Murdoch and his hand-picked editor-in-chief launch what would become a new era of tabloid journalism, changing the media world for better or worse in the process. Here all the cylinders are firing, and it is thrilling stuff indeed.
Robert Pattinson’s film “Primetime,” inspired by Chris Hansen’s true crime “To Catch a Predator” series, has garnered near-unanimous critical praise following its 2026 Venice International Film Festival premiere. Directed by Lance Oppenheim, the R-rated movie stars Pattinson as Hansen, chronicling his controversial hidden-camera sting operations against suspected child predators, a show eventually canceled after a suspect’s suicide. “Primetime” holds a 93% “fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics lauding Pattinson’s stunning performance and the film’s gritty approach. While some reviews highlight its entertainment value, others question its intellectual depth. Featuring Merritt Wever and Phoebe Bridgers, the film explores the “perfect storm” behind the show, opening in theaters Sept. 25.
The 2026 Telluride kicked off Friday, September 5… and runs through Labor Day. The 53rd edition of the fest kicks off with first-day films including seven-time Oscar nominee Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care and the Andrew Scott-led Elsinore…The event features a number of world premieres — including Tender Loving Care — and other U.S. premieres of pics that bowed on the Lido at this month’s Venice Film Festival. It doesn’t boast any major studios releases, but Universal and Disney’s respective specialty units — Telluride regulars Focus Features and Searchlight Pictures — are in town with one movie apiece. Focus has the world premiere of Simon Stone’s Elsinore, and Searchlight is representing with its big Oscar hope, writer-director Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, which first screened in Venice.
The prestigious annual event is set for Sept. 10 to 20, with 64 titles and 32 premieres already confirmed…The 51st edition…will be kicked off with Sian Heder’s world premiere of “Being Heumann” starring Mark Ruffalo, and will close with Yan Lanouette Turgeon’s “Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend” on Saturday, Sept. 19.
A second Burning Man attendee has been found dead.The 60-year-old attendee, named Craigh Mann, was discovered dead by his campmates in Black Rock City, Nevada, on Saturday, September 5 at 3 p.m., according to the festival. No further information or cause of death was disclosed in the Burning Man organizers’ statement. The statement added, “Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the participant’s family, friends, campmates, and all those affected by this loss,” the festival said in a statement.
This latest news marks the second death at Burning Man at this year’s event. The festival had announced on Friday, September 4, that a participant in his mid-50s “experienced a medical emergency,” They continued that the individual “immediately received lifesaving measures, and was transported to the onsite center for emergency care where he was pronounced deceased.”
I guess bad reviews aren’t so bad after all?
So for those of you winging your way to any festival–yes, even the one where you fight for survival–happy change of season, and have a Pumpkin Spice Latte or two on me.
Until next time…