At the Venice picture Festival on Sunday night, Brad Pitt and George Clooney shared a hug and danced while their most recent picture, “Wolfs,” was given a courteous four-minute standing ovation.
In an attempt to get a glimpse of Pitt and Clooney, fans packed Venice’s Sala Grande, causing the premiere to be delayed by over thirty minutes. The acoustics and overall atmosphere of the theater could only be characterized as carnal when the two eventually made it inside. After taking photographs and signing autographs on opposite ends of the red carpet, the actors were escorted by security to their seats.
A loud “Buonasera!” was let out by the two celebrities as they walked into the theater, causing some of the excited audience to yell back in an attempt to be heard. The commotion persisted as the movie started, with those without tickets frantically looking for any available seats. In the movie’s opening sequences, some people were kicked out as others came in later.Pitt and Clooney shared a hug when the criminal comedy came to an end, and then they danced to Sade’s “Smooth Operator.” After that, Clooney turned to face his wife Amal, and the two planted a tender kiss. Then, from their seats on the auditorium balcony, he and Pitt down the steps to meet the applauding audience.
Just two days had passed since Angelina Jolie, Pitt’s former partner, had her film “Maria” debut in Venice to an eight-minute standing ovation and Oscar speculation. Neither brought up their protracted legal battle, and Pitt avoided questions on court records that claim Jolie had “a history of physical abuse” throughout their marriage at a news conference on Sunday. (Shortly after “Wolfs” debuted on social media, the hashtag #BradPittIsAnAbuser became popular.)
“Wolfs” is Pitt and Clooney’s first co-headlining film since the Coen Brothers’ 2008 black comedy “Burn After Reading.” Prior to that, the two co-starred in the “Ocean’s” franchise from 2001 and 2007. Both actors have previously graced the Lido, with Clooney attending in 2009 for Grant Heslov’s “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and Pitt premiering David Fincher’s “Fight Club” in 1999 and winning the Volpi Cup for best actor in Andrew Dominik’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” in 2007.
