Overview

• Both films screened in competition on August 28, putting Noah Baumbach’s fame-and-identity drama and Yorgos Lanthimos’s conspiracy satire at the center of the festival conversation.
• George Clooney skipped the Jay Kelly press conference due to a very severe sinusitis, expressed regret for the absence, and his evening red-carpet appearance was described as uncertain at the time.
• Bugonia casts Emma Stone as a powerful CEO abducted by conspiracy believers and is a U.S. remake of the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet! with a screenplay by Will Tracy and a remake initiative led by CJ Entertainment, with Ari Aster among producers.
• Stone said she believes in extraterrestrial life and confirmed she shaved her head for the role, adding that Lanthimos shaved his own head first in solidarity.
• Early reactions highlight the film’s graphic, splatter-inflected violence and a visceral tone, with responses ranging from high praise to sharp pans; Universal set Bugonia for October 23 and Netflix scheduled Jay Kelly for December 5.