Clooney's Latest Thriller to Open Venice Film Festival

Hollywood star George Clooney's "The Ides of March", a thriller about a U.S. presidential campaign, will open this year's Venice Film Festival and will compete for the coveted Golden Lion award, organizers said Wednesday.

The film, about a Democratic governor campaigning in presidential primaries, will make its world premiere on August 31 immediately after the opening ceremony.

Clooney directs and stars in the movie, along with Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright and Max Minghella.

"The Ides of March" is the fourth film directed by Clooney after "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), "Good Night and Good Luck" (2005) and "Leatherheads" (2008).

The festival runs through September 10.