‘Challengers’: Luca Guadagnino Sets Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist to Star

Acclaimed director Luca Giadagnino is back with a new film. The Call Me by Your Name director has set the cast for his new film. Already, Zendaya is in while Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist are in the final negotiations to star. The film is titled, Challengers.

The story follows Tashi. She is a tennis player turned coach who takes her husband, a mediocre player at best, and turns him into a renowned world-famous grand slam champion. After he faces losing streaks, she decides to make him snap out of it by having him play a “challenger” event. It is close to the lowest level of tournament on the pro tour. He finds himself standing across the net from the once-promising, now burnt-out Patrick – his ex-best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend.

The ever-industrious Guadagnino has been busy since last year settling on this as his next film after reading the recent draft. He met up with Zendaya who was immediately intrigued by the role of Tashi and she attached herself to the project. Studios were impressed by the duo and MGM came up on top from other studios.

Guadagnino is currently in post-production for his upcoming and highly anticipated Bones and All starring Timothee Chalamet and Taylor Russell. His works include Call Me by Your Name which got him the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and a BAFTA nomination. Suspiria is also his work. He did a limited series We Are Who We Are for HBO in 2020.

Zendaya is an industry A-Lister starring in Tom Holland’s Spiderman movies as M.J, in Dune opposite Timothee Chalamet. Dune is currently nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Picture. She is also lead in HBO’s hit show Euphoria which earned her an Emmy for her role as Rue.

Since his Emmy-winning performance in Netflix’s The Crown, O’Connor has been on a roll. He also starred in the highly praised drama film God’s Own Country.

Faist can be seen in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, which has seen him be nominated for his first BAFTA as Riff. West Side Story is nominated for an Oscar this year.

The project is aiming to start filming in March.