Venice @ 75. Early news and rumors.

"The Venice Film Festival is gearing up for a high-profile edition," reports Variety's Nick Vivarelli (via Movie City News). "One third of the lineup is probably going to be American," festival director Marco Muller tells him. "This is going to be among our strongest editions ever." August 29 through September 8.

Here's what else Vivarelli hears: Zhang Yimou will head the jury and among the films likely to screen are:

• Robert Zemeckis's 3D Beowulf, written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary.

• Todd Haynes's I'm Not There, with a slew of intriguingly cast actors playing various aspects of Bob Dylan - "highly anticipated," notes Vivarelli, to which I can only concur, "Absolutely."

• Ang Lee's "espionage thriller" Lust, Caution.

• Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood.

• Ken Loach's "labor drama" These Times.

• Eric Rohmer's The Romance of Astrea and Celadon.

• Jiang Wen's The Sun Also Rises, "which Muller described as 'China's first Emir Kusturica-like satire.'"

• Something from Jia Zhangke, possibly a documentary.

The full slate, around 60 titles in all, will be announced on July 26.

To celebrate its 75th anniversary (though this'll be the 64th edition, what with intermissions for world war and all), the festival will honor Alexander Kluge, also born in 1932; and the lifetime achievement award, as announced some time ago, will go to Tim Burton.

Posted by dwhudson at May 25, 2007 7:56 AM