Challengers is already making waves (or serves?) in Hollywood. Led by Zendaya, the tennis romance film has the Euphoria actress in the middle of a streamy love triangle with Josh O’Connor‘s Patrick and Mike Faist‘s Art. As the movie has already met critical and box office success, fans are wondering if Hollywood will give it the sequel treatment — as we all know that the entertainment biz loves to do.
We broke down the possibility of a Challengers 2, how director Luca Guadagnino feels about the concept and more.
Will There Be a ‘Challengers 2’?
It’s unlikely that Challengers will receive a sequel, however, you never know — as the director has played around with the idea before.
ICYMI, Luca is behind several Hollywood hits, including 2017’s Call Me By Your Name, which starred Timothee Chalamet as Elio. Back in 2022, the director revealed that he would “want” to continue the story if the opportunity were to arise.
“A sequel is an American concept,” the filmmaker admitted to IndieWire in a September 2022 interview. “It’s more like the chronicles of Elio, the chronicles of this young boy becoming a man. It is something I want to do.”
That being said, we’re not sure if Challengers would receive the same “chronicles” treatment, given how the film ends.
How Does ‘Challengers’ End?
Zendaya plays Tashi, a former tennis player prodigy who turns to coaching and oversees her husband Art’s career. Things intensify after Art, while on a losing streak, is forced to play against his childhood best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend, Patrick, which ignites an intense love triangle.
At the end of the film, Tashi threatens to divorce Art if he loses, and tells Patrick she’ll coach him if he throws the match. Finally, at the end of the film challengers match begins — and there’s no clear, decisive winner. Instead, the director ends the with an accidental-but-maybe-on-purpose mid-air hug at the net between Art and Patrick.
There, the audience realizes that Tashi was never the trophy at the end of this — instead, the real love story was between two characters you didn’t expect. Really, the essence of the movie is about a woman who is turned on by creating an erotic landscape between the men that love her.
“What Luca’s really good at is finding sensuality and desire,” Zendaya told Empire in August 2023, about the film’s director . “There’s so much in just glances. The tension builds. Not having the release is a good thing sometimes.”
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