And So It Begins...

So sinister that sounds...

Deadline reports that Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron's ambitious and hotly anticipated 3-D science fiction thriller, will open (albeit out of competition) the 70th Venice Film Festival.  The film stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney and debuted a startling teaser trailer a few months back.  Venice is a part of the trifecta of the early fall festival spree that starts to announce and gauge the beginning of the awards season-- the other two being Telluride and Toronto, all which occur nearly concurrently.  Cuaron has a history with Venice, which makes this announcement not so surprising.  Y Tu Mama Tambien, his wonderful 2001 sexual coming of age film won the screenplay prize that year.  He also took his last film, Children of Men to Venice in 2006, which won a special prize for Emmuanuel Lubezki's Oscar-nominated cinematography.  Gravity holds as an awards hopeful for Warner Bros. this year and potentially may boast a significant performance from Bullock, who based on early reports, is the only one on screen for the majority of the feature.  The Venice Film Festival will begin August 28th.  Let the games begin...