Challengers is a 2024 American romantic sports drama that is going to be directed by Luca Guadagnino from the script written by Justin Kuritzkes. Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist lead the cast; it tells the story of a former tennis player turned coach (Zendaya) caught in a tangle with her ex-boyfriend (O’Connor) and her present husband (Faist), also a tennis player, but paralyzed in an accident. Taking place over thirteen-years’ narrative and culminating in the championship match on the ATP Challenger Tour between two men.
The screenplay was written by Kuritzkes and was bought by MGM in February 2022, then the main actors and Guadagnino agreed to be part of the project. The star players took their training seriously, working with former tennis player and coach Brad Gilbert for the movie; Gilbert advised on the movie too. Principal photography commenced on 3 May 2022 mostly in Boston and the production team posted for auditions for local people to play the characters of tennis players and extras and photo doubles for lead performers. Scenes were shot in different districts such as Back Bay and East Boston, and the shooting was done at night till June 26, 2022. Thai cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, who has also worked with Guadagnino on “Call Me by Your Name” and “Suspiria”, shot the film whereas Spanish designer Jonathan Anderson, the creative director for Spanish luxury brand Loewe, designed the costumes.
Before the shooting, Zendaya, Faist, and O’Connor worked three months and trained intensively for their parts. Faist had to add thirty pounds for the role, he consumed 8000 to 10000 calories a day apart from practicing for the role of a tennis player. Their training schedule was rigorous: they had to be at the tennis court at 6 in the morning, they trained till twelve and then in the afternoon they had acting lessons.
Post-production
After principal photography wrapped, Guadagnino visited Zendaya on the set of “Dune: Long Title : Part Two” to finish up the ADR for “Challengers.” The score for the film was provided by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who have worked with Guadagnino before on ‘Bones and All’ and a remix of the score was also done by Boys Noize. Some post-production work was done up to April 2023.
Music
These elements of the film, its atmosphere, were greatly created by the film’s original score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The score re-release was followed by a remixed version of the score that featured Boys Noize music.
Release
Challengers was set for September 15, 2023, before the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023 made a shift and saw the movie pulled from the 80th Venice International Film Festival. It was furthermore released in Sydney, Australia on March 26, 2024, and then Paris, London, and Los Angeles where Tennis player Venus Williams attended the premiere.
Theatrically and in IMAX in the United States and Canada, it was released by Amazon MGM Studios on April 26, 2024, for the centenary of the creation of MGM. Internationally, Warner Bros. Pictures was responsible for the distribution of the movie. Despite the filmmakers’ intention to premiere it only on Amazon Prime Video in France, the change of course occurred in January 2024, and the film got into theaters before starting on the streaming platform 17 months later.### Home Media
Challengers was made available for streaming on VOD on May 17, 2024, while Blu-ray and DVD versions were released on July 9, 2024.
Reception
Box Office
By June 25, 2024, “Challengers” has reached a gross of fifty dollars. In the United States and Canada, there is an estimation of 1 million; while globally, the estimate is $44. In other territories, it grossed $1 million, taking the global tally to $94. 2 million. Released alongside “Boy Kills World” and “Unsung Hero,” the picture earned $15 million during its first three days, thus becoming Guadagnino’s best domestic opener. It maintained a good performance in the subsequent weeks and became a stable hit-film in terms of box-office performance.
Critical Response
The response to ‘Challengers’ was generally a positive one and it holds a fresh rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes out of the 356 reviews that have been conducted with a rating of 8/10. Majority of the positive comments from the site highlighted on the performances, and engaging narrative of the film. Reviews from professional critics were positive; the film has received a 82/100 from Metacritic which classifies the movie as one that was rated as having ‘universal acclaim’.
Accolades
“Challengers” earned several nominations and awards, including:Despite the fact that “Challengers” was released as the fourth single and did not generate significant chart success, the song was nominated for and won the following:
– Astra Midseason Movie Awards: It was nominated in the category of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay, but it has been excluded in the category of Best Supporting Actress.- The Queerties: A contender for Next Big Thing.
