VENICE, Italy (AP) — George Clooney and Brad Pitt returned to the Venice Film Festival on Sunday for the world premiere of “Wolfs.”

Before hitting the red carpet, the Hollywood stars reflected on their reunion, the rise of streaming and Clooney’s Opinion piece in the New York Times calling on President Joe Biden to abandon his re-election bid.

When asked about the impact of his piece, Clooney said he hadn’t had to answer that question yet.

“The one who should be commended is the president who did the most selfless thing since George Washington,” Clooney said. “All the machinations that got us there, none of that will be remembered. And it shouldn’t be. What should be remembered is the selfless act.”

Clooney continued: “It’s very hard to let go of power. We know that. We’ve seen that all over the world. If someone says, ‘I think there’s a better way forward?’ All the credit goes to them.”

Most of the discussion, however, was about the film, an old-fashioned actioner directed by Jon Watts, in which the actors play lone scavengers who are unhappy that they’ve been hired for the same job of covering up a bloody mess involving a district attorney (played by Amy Ryan).

The film will have a limited theatrical release beginning September 20, before hitting Apple TV+ on September 27. Apple TV+ acquired “Wolfs” in a competitive bidding war, beating out both traditional studios and rival streaming services.

Deadline reported in 2021 that the deal was for it to come with a robust theatrical release, something the stars may have also blown money on, the trade publication said. Then, a few weeks ago, the streamer announced other plans: Theatrical release would be limited. Streaming would go fast.

Clooney confirmed that they gave up some of their salaries to guarantee a theatrical release and that it’s “sad” the film won’t be shown in more than a few hundred theaters.

“We would have liked it, we wanted it. That’s why Brad and I gave some of our money back,” he said, adding that a New York Times report overstated the amount of their salaries by millions.

Clooney is far from anti-streaming, however, saying everyone is just finding their way through this revolution. There are bumps and mistakes, but there are also a lot more opportunities for actors, he said.

“Streaming, we need it, our industry needs it,” Clooney said. “They also benefit from movies being released … and we’re figuring it out, we haven’t figured it out yet.”

Producer and Plan B director Jeremy Kliner, who has worked with Pitt for more than 20 years, said they make films with confidence in their shelf life and that they are doing something worthwhile.

Pitt added: “I think we’ll always be romantic about the theater experience, but at the same time I love the existence of streamers… it’s a delicate balance. It will right itself.”

Though they’re both regulars at the picturesque festival, with Clooney’s premieres including “Gravity” and “Good Night and Good Luck,” and Pitt’s “Ad Astra” and “The Assassination of Jesse James…” among them, they’ve only walked the carpet together once. No, it wasn’t for an Ocean’s movie. It was in 2008, for the premiere of the Coen brothers’ madcap farce “Burn After Reading,” in which they share a single memorable scene.

“In ‘Burn After Reading,’ I had the extreme pleasure of shooting him in the face and I thought maybe 15 years later we’ll try it again,” Clooney said with a laugh.

The two teased each other about their age and relevance, with Clooney joking that Pitt is 74 and should be lucky to still be working at his age. (Clooney is 63, by the way. Pitt is 60.)

Pitt was waiting for a good idea to reunite Clooney on screen and liked the idea of ​​two cleaners who think they’re the best. Their years of working together made their banter and overlapping dialogue natural to do.

“As I’ve gotten older, it’s become more and more important to me to work with people that I really enjoy spending time with,” Pitt said.

When they got the script, they said Watts hadn’t specified who would play what role, so Pitt and Clooney called to figure it out themselves.

Pitt arrived at the festival just days apart from his ex, Angelina Joliewho received praise for her role as opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” and left Italy shortly after for another festival.

Pitt and Jolie had been partners for a decade when they married in 2014. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 and a judge declared them single in 2019, but the divorce case is still ongoing and disputes over custody and finances remain. A few weeks agoA Los Angeles court has granted a request by the former couple’s third-eldest child to legally change her name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie.

The director of the film, who catapulted from indie films to the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, said in a statement from the director that this film is an attempt to return to the street level after “seven years of swinging from skyscrapers and jumping through multiverse portals.” He was unable to speak to his stars about the film after testing positive for COVID-19.

“He flew all the way out here and then he got COVID,” Clooney said. “So now we’re all going to get it.”

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