How 'Challengers' Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes Went From Cult YouTube Star to Luca Guadagnino Collaborator
by GQ
GQ— I catch Justin Kuritzkes, the screenwriter behind the new Luca Guadagnino film Challengers, in the middle of a busy press day, doing interviews from an elegantly-appointed hotel room that would be right out of a Guadagnino production (I Am Love, obviously) except for the room’s conked-out TV, which keeps inexplicably coming to life and playing The View. “They just want to be heard,” Kuritzkes cracks. “They want to give their views on everything.” Kuritzkes lives in New York with his wife, Past...
GQ—All Your 'Challengers' Questions, Answered by 'Challengers' Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes. This interview contains major spoilers for Challengers. Movies are back, baby! Luca Guadagnino’s sexy, sweaty tennis-threeway movie Challengers won last weekend in the zeitgeist as well as at the box office, dominating group chats, social media feeds, and even the GQ Slack. In this post-monolithic age of media consumption, it’s increasingly rare for any release—barring peak Marvel or juggernautish new studio albums by the likes of Beyoncé or Taylor Swift—to become that central to the...
Seven Days—You Don't Have to Be a Tennis Person to Savor the Court Intrigue of Luca Guadagnino's 'Challengers'. Italian art-house director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, I Am Love, Bones and All) returned last weekend with a film in a subgenre that has rarely been seen on the big screen in decades: a smart romantic drama about driven professionals. In this case, they're competitive tennis players. Scripted by playwright Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers is also the rare sports drama that isn't a biopic. The deal In 2019, two estranged friends face off at an ATP Challenger Tour tennis match in...
Vulture—Challengers Scores Luca Guadagnino His Biggest Box Office Opening Yet. The tennis film came in first at the box office with $15.2 million.