From our correspondent in Venice.

Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, is the opening film of the 70^th Venice Festival.

The world premiere of Gravity screened in 3D on August 28^th in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema at the Lido.

The Festival is directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta.

Gravity, from Warner Bros. Pictures, is a heart-pounding thriller that pulls you into the infinite and unforgiving realm of deep space.  In the film, Sandra Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney).

But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone – tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth… and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left.  But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

Gravity was written by Alfonso Cuarón & Jonás Cuarón and was filmed entirely at London’s Shepperton Studios. It will be distributed worldwide in 3D and 2D, and in IMAX^®.

Henry Borzi