Two-time Emmy winner Zendaya wished everyone “the most beautiful new year” while sharing the poster for her upcoming movie Challengers on Instagram. The R-rated drama finds Zendaya playing a tennis coach caught up in a love triangle with Mike Faist (West Side Story) and Josh O’Connor (The Crown).
Oscar nominee Luca Guadagnino, director of 2015’s A Bigger Splash, 2017’s Call Me by Your Name, 2018’s Suspiria, and 2022’s Bones and All, directed Challengers from a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes. The film was originally set to open in theaters on September 15, 2023 but was delayed due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Amazon MGM Studios is now targeting an April 26, 2024 theatrical release.
“Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Faist), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (O’Connor) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend,” reads MGM’s synopsis. “As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.”
Zendaya, Guadagnino, Amy Pascal, and Rachel O’Connor served as producers. Bernard Bellew, Lorenzo Mieli, and Kevin Ulrich executive produce, with music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Zendaya will next be seen reprising her role as Chani opposite Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two, arriving on March 1st. Chalamet was nominated for an Oscar for his lead performance in Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name, and reunited with the director for the cannibal love story Bones and All.
