The world premiere of the new action comedy “Wolfs” had to go on without its director, Jon Watts. Watts was forced to miss the premiere event at the 81st Venice Film Festival after contracting COVID-19. Hollywood veterans George Clooney and Brad Pitt represented the film in Watts’ place.
The festival screening took place as scheduled on Sunday. In a press conference before the showing, Clooney broke the news about Watts’ absence to attendees. “He traveled all this way to be here, and then unfortunately got COVID,” Clooney said with disappointment. This left Clooney and co-star Pitt to field reporters’ questions on their own about “Wolfs” without Watts’ involvement.
“Wolfs” tells the story of two ‘lone wolves’ who are professional fixers hired separately to cover up the same crime. They are reluctantly forced to join forces when their night spirals into chaos during the job. Clooney and Pitt star as these professionals who must work together to clean up the high-profile mess. The film is an Apple-backed production from Clooney and Pitt’s production companies.
The film features an ensemble cast that includes Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Poorna Jagannathan, Richard Kind, and Zlatko Burić. As two highly bankable stars, Clooney and Pitt’s collaboration in “Wolfs” was highly anticipated in the industry and generated buzz leading up to the premiere. Reports also surfaced that Watts signed a deal with Apple to write and direct a potential sequel, though it’s unclear if Clooney and Pitt will return.
As the red carpet event for “Wolfs” gets underway tonight, all eyes will be on Clooney and Pitt to represent the film in Watts’ absence. The premiere marks a notable moment for both the actors and the Venice Film Festival, which continues amid challenges for the film industry from the ongoing pandemic.
