Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door Starring Julianne Moore Aims for Venice Debut

Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language feature debut, “The Room Next Door” — starring Oscar winners Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton — will likely launch at the Venice Film Festival, which is putting the finishing touches on a stellar lineup ahead of its official announcement next week.

“Room Next Door” is the sequel to “Parallel Mothers”, released in 2021 in Venice and awarded the Volpi Cup for best actress for Penelope Cruz’s performance. Almodóvar’s latest film is also in competition at the festival, according to multiple sources.

Almodóvar’s film, set in New England, “is about a deeply flawed mother and her resentful daughter, who live separate lives because of a profound misunderstanding,” as the director explained.

“Room Next Door,” produced by Almodóvar’s El Deseo, is set to be released theatrically this year via Sony Pictures Classics in the United States, the Middle East and India, among other territories, while Warner Bros. is handling distribution in other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.

Warner Bros. Italia did not immediately respond to VarietyRequest for comment from.

As previously planned by Variety, The upcoming 81st edition of Venice is shaping up to be a star-studded affair, with Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci also among Hollywood’s top talents likely to launch high-profile headline acts from the Lido.

As announced by the festival, Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice”, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe, will be the Lido’s out-of-competition opening show.

“Joker 2: Folie à Deux,” Todd Phillips’ bold musical sequel to his 2019 Golden Lion-winning “Joker,” starring Gaga and Phoenix, is considered a frontrunner in the competition, as is “Maria,” Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas biopic starring Angelina Jolie in the title role.

Also in the running for Venice is the adaptation of Queer , directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by William S. Burroughs, in which Daniel Craig plays the famous counterculture author’s alter ego, a marginalized American expat living in Mexico and battling a heroin addiction. Outer Banks star Drew Starkey also plays a young man with whom the expat falls madly in love.

Italian films in competition include “Sicilian Letters” (“Iddu”), the highly anticipated drama about Cosa Nostra leader Matteo Messina Denaro – dubbed “the last godfather” – directed by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza (“Sicilian Ghost Story”).

Walter Salles’ fiction film “I’m Still Here,” the Brazilian director’s first fiction feature in more than a decade, is also expected to be selected. Meanwhile, Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” doesn’t appear to be screening at the Lido, nor does Ron Howard’s survival thriller “Eden,” which will debut in Toronto.

As previously announced, Isabelle Huppert will chair the main jury.

The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival will take place from August 28 to September 7. The full lineup will be announced on July 23.

Elsa Keslassy contributed to this report.