August can be a dreary month for Hollywood glamour, but the Venice Film Festival is on the horizon to kick off the busy fall film festival season in style. There will be plenty of stars gracing the red carpets when the 83rd edition of the festival kicks off Wednesday on the Lido: Noel and Liam Gallagher, Robert Pattinson, Rooney Mara, George Clooney and Penélope Cruz are among those expected to attend. Some of the films may even become Oscar nominees.But the mood feels a little different this year. There will always be a spotlight for the Hollywood contingent and the awards hopefuls posing on boats and docks in designer duds. Yet, in a lineup featuring Pattinson as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen, Dakota Johnson as Marilyn Monroe, Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch and Clooney as, well, himself (he’s getting a lifetime achievement award, as is Ellen Burstyn), it’s possible that much of the attention will be on a man who (probably) won’t be there: Elon Musk.
Docs feature Musk, Russia and GazaAlex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary about the world’s richest man has been in the works for almost four years. The Oscar-winner wasn’t sure about taking it on at first, but a good friend convinced him it would be a worthy portrait of 21st-century power — and this was before the 2024 presidential campaign and DOGE.
