Affleck, J.Lo make romance official
Rekindled relationship and anticipated films debut at Venice film festival
After weeks of smooching on yachts and holding hands on intimate walks, Jennifer Lopez and oldflame-turned-new-again Ben Affleck made it official Friday night on the red carpet for the premiere of Affleck’s “The Last Duel” at the Venice International Film Festival.
She was dripping in Cartier diamonds in a white mermaid body-hugging gown with plunging neckline and high side slit by Georges Hobeika. He was dapper in a black tuxedo. There were plenty of kisses and hugs for the cameras after a summer of love for the two, who rekindled their romance in May, 17 years after they broke up in 2004.
They were spotted out and about in Venice before their formal coming out. At the premiere, Affleck waved to the crowd as he helped Lopez out of a black car and onto the red carpet.
For weeks, the two haven’t been shy about PDA after coming back together not long after Lopez’s coming apart with Alex Rodriguez.
Throughout the summer, they were photographed on a yacht off Saint-Tropez, cuddling on a walk in the Hamptons and nuzzling over sushi in Malibu.
Ridley Scott’s medieval drama “The Last Duel” also reunites Affleck and Matt Damon, with some Adam Driver thrown in.
The other hot story at the Venice International Film Festival is the remake of “Dune.”
Denis Villeneuve’s adaption of Frank Herbert’s “Dune” was always envisioned as two films. But even if the sequel is anything but a certainty, it’s already been a “dream” for the Canadian director and his star Timothée Chalamet.
“Simply put, this was the honor of a lifetime for me,” Chalamet said at the Venice Film Festival. “I hope we get to do a second one. It would be a dream… (but) it’s already been a dream come true.”
Chalamet, Villeneuve, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem all gathered to discuss the film at a news conference before its world premiere Friday night on the Lido. It is not debuting as part of the competition slate, but it is one of the most anticipated films of the year after a lengthy delay in release because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Based on Herbert’s 1965 science fiction classic, “Dune” is a heroic tale of a rising duke, intergalactic power struggles, a precious spice and lethal spaceworms, and it has both inspired and bested some of the best filmmakers. Chalamet plays the young hero, Paul Atreides, who is being groomed to lead when his family learns that they are to rule and protect the hostile desert planet Arrakis, home to the universe’s most valuable resource.
Though it’s a tale that has inspired many creative minds, it’s also one that’s bested them. Alejandro Jodorowsky tried to adapt it in the 1970s, but after years of development and a script that would have resulted in a 14-hour movie, the money came up short and the rights ultimately lapsed. The almost-film even
became the subject of a 2013 documentary, “Jodorowsky’s Dune.”
Ridley Scott spent seven months in development on another version before dropping out and making “Blade Runner” instead. Then David Lynch stepped in. His film, starring Kyle
MacLachlan and released in 1984, bombed at the box office and did not impress critics.
But Villeneuve, the director behind ambitious and cerebral space epics like “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049,” was not deterred by the wreckage that had come before.