“Challengers” is the new Luca Guadagnino film starring Zendaya, Josh O’ Connore and Mike Faist.
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about the film.
- Challengers is a 2024 American romantic sports drama film
- The fulm is directed by Luca Guadagnino
- It is written by Justin Kuritzkes
- The plot follows a professional tennis champion (Mike Faist) who plots a comeback with the help of his wife (Zendaya), a former tennis prodigy who retired after an injury, as he goes up against another player (Josh O’Connor)
- He also happens to be his former best friend and wife’s former lover
- The film was delayed from its initial September 2023 release date due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike
- It was also pulled out from its slot as the opening film of the 80th Venice International Film Festival for the same reason
- Challengers premiered in Sydney, Australia, on March 26, 2024
- It was released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios on April 26, 2024
- In the United States and Canada, Challengers will be released alongside Boy Kills World and Unsung Hero
- It is projected to gross $12 – 15 million from 3,400 theaters in its opening weekend
- The film made $1.9 million in Thursday-night previews
- On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 88% rating
- Based 217 critics’ reviews are positive
- With an average rating of 8/10
- The website’s consensus reads: “With its trio of outstanding performers volleying their star power back and forth without ever dropping the ball, Challengers is a kinetic and sexy romp at court”
- Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100
- Based on 58 critics
- Indicating “universal acclaim”
- It was announced in February 2022 that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had landed the film, which Luca Guadagnino directed and Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist cast to star
- Zendaya also served as a producer on the film
- In a 2022 interview with Collider, Guadagnino cited Kuritzkes’ screenplay, Amy Pascal, and Zendaya as inspirations for making the film
- Principal photography began on May 3, 2022, in Boston, where a casting call took place for local residents to audition to play tennis players, general extras, and stand-ins
- In preparation for her role, Zendaya spent three months training with pro-tennis player-turned-coach Brad Gilbert
- Gilbert was also a consultant on the film
- Filming occurred in and around the Back Bay and East Boston neighborhoods
- Sayombhu Mukdeeprom served as cinematographer
- Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Spanish luxury brand Loewe, served as costume designer
- Filming wrapped on June 26, 2022
- Guadagnino visited Zendaya on the set of Dune: Part Two in order to complete ADR for Challengers
- Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the film’s score
- Having previously worked with Guadagnino on 2022’s Bones and All
- Post-production was completed by April 2023
- The film’s original score was composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
- A remixed version was released in collaboration with Boys Noize
