Film Challengers

The plot follows a professional tennis champion (Mike Faist) who plots a comeback with the help of his wife (Zendaya), a former tennis prodigy who retired after an injury, as he goes up against another player (Josh O'Connor), who also happens to be his former best friend and wife's former lover.

Challengers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Luca Guadagnino
Written by	Justin Kuritzkes
Produced by	Luca Guadagnino Rachel O'Connor Amy Pascal Zendaya
Starring	Zendaya Josh O'Connor Mike Faist
Cinematography	Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Edited by	Marco Costa
Music by	Trent Reznor Atticus Ross
Production companies	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pascal Pictures
Distributed by	Amazon MGM Studios (United States) Warner Bros. Pictures (International)
Release dates	March 26, 2024 (2024-03-26) (Sydney) April 26, 2024 (2024-04-26) (United States)
Running time	131 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$769,000

After being delayed from its initial September 2023 release date and pulled out from its slot as the opening film of the 80th Venice International Film Festival due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Challengers premiered in Sydney, Australia, on March 26, 2024, and is scheduled to be released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios on April 26, 2024. The film received critical acclaim, with the cast performances (especially Zendaya) being the main highlight.

Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach after a career-ending injury, is married to a champion on a losing streak. Her strategy for her husband's redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against his former best friend, who is also Tashi's former boyfriend.

• Zendaya as Tashi Duncan
• Josh O'Connor as Patrick Zweig
• Mike Faist as Art Donaldson
• Darnell Appling as New Rochelle Final Umpire
• AJ Lister as Lily Donaldson
• Nada Despotovich as Tashi's Mother
• Naheem Garcia as Tashi's Father
• Hailey Gates as Helen
• Jake Jensen as Finn Larsen

Development

It was announced in February 2022 that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had landed the film, which Luca Guadagnino directed and Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist cast to star. Zendaya also served as a producer on the film. In a 2022 interview with Collider, Guadagnino cited Kuritzkes' screenplay, Amy Pascal, and Zendaya as inspirations for making the film.

Filming

Principal photography began on May 3, 2022, in Boston, where a casting call took place for local residents to audition to play tennis players, general extras, and stand-ins. In preparation for her role, Zendaya spent three months training with pro-tennis player-turned-coach Brad Gilbert. Gilbert was also a consultant on the film. Filming occurred in and around the Back Bay and East Boston neighborhoods. Sayombhu Mukdeeprom served as cinematographer. Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Spanish luxury brand Loewe, served as costume designer. Filming wrapped on June 26, 2022.

Post-production

Guadagnino visited Zendaya on the set of Dune: Part Two in order to complete ADR for Challengers. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the film's score, having previously worked with Guadagnino on 2022's Bones and All. Post-production was completed by April 2023.

The film's original score was composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. A remixed version was released in collaboration with Boys Noize.

A trailer was released on June 20, 2023. Zendaya revealed the film's poster on her Instagram at the new year 2024 along with its release date. She jokingly called the film "Codependency: The Movie", while O'Connor compared it to the 2007 comedy Superbad.

Challengers premiered in Sydney, Australia on March 26, 2024, followed by premieres in Paris, France, London and at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, the latter of which had tennis player Venus Williams in attendance. It is scheduled to be released in theaters and IMAX in the United States and Canada by Amazon MGM Studios on April 26, 2024, the same month as the centennial anniversary of the founding of MGM on April 17.

The film was previously set to be released on September 15, 2023, and before that August 11, 2023. The film was also scheduled to have its world premiere as the opening film of the 80th Venice International Film Festival, but was delayed and pulled out from the festival by Amazon MGM Studios due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike at the time.

Warner Bros. Pictures serves as the film's international distributor. Although the film was initially set for a direct-to streaming release on Amazon Prime Video in France instead of a theatrical release, the decision was reversed in January 2024, meaning the film would start streaming on the service 17 months after its initial theatrical release. While it was rumored the film would be released on April 24, 2024, two days before its release in the United States, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery denied this, stating the film had not been dated for a French theatrical release yet.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 97 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "With its trio of outstanding performers volleying their star power back and forth without ever dropping the ball, Challengers is a kinetic and sexy romp at court." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 88 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Robbie Collin of The Telegraph awarded the film five stars out of five, writing that the "romantic thriller is the most purely pleasurable film of the year.”