Organizers of the Venice Film Festival announced a change in their opening selection as the initially scheduled movie had to withdraw due to the ongoing Hollywood strike.
Edoardo De Angelis' "Comandante" will now open the 80th Venice International Film Festival, in place of Luca Guadagnino's "Challengers," the festival said in a statement late on Friday.
"Challengers" featuring American star Zendaya, "will not participate at the Festival following a decision made by the production," owing to ongoing industrial action in Hollywood, it said.
"Comandante" will have its world premiere on Wednesday, Aug. 30 in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema (Lido di Venezia) during the opening ceremony.
The change comes with actors having two weeks ago joined a writers' strike to trigger the first industry-wide walkout for 63 years, effectively shutting down Hollywood.
The SAG-AFTRA (the Screen Actors Guild) went on strike after negotiations to reach a new deal with production studios ended without an agreement.
The union's demands have focused on dwindling pay in the streaming era, as well as the threat to the industry posed by artificial intelligence.
Based on a true story, "Comandante" depicts the rescue of 26 shipwrecked Belgians during World War II by a submarine skipper played by Pierfrancesco Favino.
De Angelis, 44, was behind 2016 film "Indivisibili" and the TV drama series The Lying Life of Adults.
