Why Zendaya Will Be MIA From the 2023 Venice Film Festival

Zendaya will no longer be serving looks on the 2023 Venice International Film Festival red carpet.

After all, she's no longer set to make an appearance. While her upcoming film Challengers was expected to make its world premiere at the Italian film festival Aug. 30, its release has been pushed back to April 26, 2024 due to the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike, the studio confirmed to E! News.

The organization behind the Venice Film Festival, La Biennale di Venezia, also confirmed the film would no longer be screened. "Challengers, the movie by Luca Guadagnino that had previously been announced," a note on its website read, "will not participate at the Festival following a decision made by the production."

The Venetian outing would have been Zendaya's first trip to the festival since 2021 where she turned heads in a custom nude Balmain gown at the Dune premiere.

The release date change for the tennis romantic-drama—also starring Josh O'Conner and Mike Faist—comes one week after the actors' union joined members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on picket lines after being unable to reach a contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

This marks the first time in 63 years that the two guilds are on strike together, with each union seeking to secure higher compensation for streaming projects as well as artificial intelligence protections.

(Comcast, which owns E! News' parent company NBCUniversal, is one of the entertainment companies represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.)

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