Kevin Spacey is set to follow up his off piste Cannes appearance with one at the upcoming Venice Film Festival in order to promote new movie Holiguards Saga — The Portal Of Force, we have learned.
The sci fi-thriller marks Spacey’s first feature directorial effort in more than 20 years and his appearance on the Lido would also be a first in two decades.
According to the film’s producer, Elledgy Media, the film’s trailer will be screened on August 29 during a “gala dinner” attended by cast and crew involved in the film. The producer says the event will also include live performances by an opera singer and a Georgian dance ensemble. We’ve reached out for Spacey’s rep for comment.
The Venice Film Festival, which runs August 27 – September 6, confirmed to us that there is no Kevin Spacey event within their official program. This was also the case at Cannes, where the Hollywood actor was feted at an event separate to the official lineup. It was his first Croisette appearance since 2016.
Spacey shot Holiguards in Mexico between 2023-2024 with a cast including himself, Dolph Lundgren, Tyrese Gibson, Brianna Hildebrand, Disha Patani, Eric Roberts, and Lado Okhotnikov.
The film charts “a conflict between two ancient supernatural factions — the Holiguards and the Statiguards. The main character, possessing the heritage of both sides, can stop the impending catastrophe. At the same time, the Statiguards are preparing a nuclear attack on Paris, using mind control technology and cosmic energy”.
Writers are Lado Okhotnikov and Sergey Torchilin. The film is described as a USA / Mexico / India / UAE / Portugal co-production.
The producers are aiming for the movie to launch a new franchise. The release date has been mentioned to us as 2025 but details have not been forthcoming about its release.
Producer Elvira Paterton-Gavrilova of Elledgy Media Group said: “This project was both a challenge and an inspiration for us. Holiguards is a story about choice, strength, and inner conflict, told through the language of cinema. As a producer, it was important for me to support an ambitious production that is not afraid to be new, complex, and honest. The entire film crew is proud that we are bringing this vision to life step by step.”
Ukrainian producer and businesswoman Paterson-Gavrylova, who has 2.5M followers on instagram, also works in real estate development.
Two-time Oscar winner Spacey attended the Italian Global Series Festival in Rimini in June. There, he told an audience he was “incredibly excited about going back to work in a substantial way”, and said he forgives “those who rushed to judgment” before the results of his legal cases, but won’t work with those people in future.
Since 2017, Spacey has been dogged by legal issues, which have derailed his Hollywood career. He was acquitted of the sexual assault of four men in the UK two years ago, and was found not liable in a U.S. civil case brought by actor Anthony Rapp. A spate of men alleged inappropriate behaviour by the actor during his time working on House Of Cards and while working in the UK theater.
He is now facing a UK suit from another actor, Ruari Cannon, who contributed to a 2024 documentary about Spacey on Channel 4 and Investigation Discovery. Spacey has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Cannon, labelling the claims as “anonymized and non-specific” while criticizing the documentary for not giving him and his people enough time to respond.
Spacey has said in the past that he may have behaved inappropriately during his career, but denies that he behaved illegally.
Despite the new case, Spacey continues to act in independent movies on the fringe of the market. His casting in Nero’s The Man Who Drew God led to other roles, such as in conspiracy thriller The Awakening, which launched in Cannes with Cloud9 Studios aboard for sales, as well as thrillers Peter Five Eight, 1780 and other projects.
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