Jake Gyllenhaal brings Hollywood lustre to Italy as ‘Everest’ kicks off Venice Film Festival

VENICE, Italy – The Venice Film Festival is opening under a hazy Italian sun – with a chilling thriller about endurance and extremes on the world’s highest peak.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin and Emily Watson have begun Hollywood’s annual influx to Italy for Wednesday’s world premiere of Everest.

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READ MORE: 5 things to watch for at the 72nd Venice Film Festival

Baltasar Kormakur’s visceral drama is based on the true story of a deadly 1996 blizzard on the mountain.

The last two films to open the Venice festival – Gravity in 2013 and Birdman in 2014 – went on to major Oscar awards glory. Journalists who saw Everest ahead of its red carpet premiere were largely positive. The Hollywood Reporter called it “gripping and immersive,” while London’s Time Out praised the “astonishing” craft of Kormakur’s 3-D spectacular.

The 72nd Venice Film Festival runs to Sept. 12.