Zendaya’s new movie Challengers will no longer have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

The sports drama – which sees the Euphoria actor starring as a tennis coach involved in a love triangle – was scheduled to open the Italian film festival on 30 August before officially opening in cinemas on 15 September.

However, due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, during which actors cannot promote their films, distributors MGM and Warner Bros. made the decision to scrap Challengers from the festival’s programme.

“After thoughtful consideration with our partners, and given the parameters that SAG-AFTRA has outlined for its membership, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw Challengers from this year’s Venice International Film Festival,” MGM revealed in a statement.

“We look forward to celebrating the film when we can do so with our ensemble cast, director Luca Guadagnino and the filmmaking team at a later date.”

Challengers, which also stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, is now set to be released in cinemas on 26 April 2024.

The Venice Film Festival will now open with the Italian war movie Comandante, directed by Edoardo de Angelis, on 30 August and close with J. A. Bayona’s Spanish-language survival thriller La Sociedad De La Nieve (Society of the Snow) on 9 September.

The rest of the line-up will be unveiled on Tuesday.

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