Challengers (film)

Challengers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Luca Guadagnino
Written by	Justin Kuritzkes
Produced by	Amy Pascal Luca Guadagnino Zendaya Rachel O'Connor
Starring	Zendaya Josh O'Connor Mike Faist
Cinematography	Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Edited by	Marco Costa
Music by	Trent Reznor Atticus Ross
Production companies	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Why Are You Acting? Frenesy Film Company Pascal Pictures
Distributed by	Amazon MGM Studios (United States) Warner Bros. Pictures (international)
Release dates	March 26, 2024 (2024-03-26) (Sydney) April 26, 2024 (2024-04-26) (United States)
Running time	131 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$55 million[2]
Box office	$94.2 million[3][4]

Challengers is a 2024 American romantic sports comedy-drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes. It follows the love triangle between an injured tennis star-turned-coach (Zendaya), her low-circuit tennis player ex-boyfriend (Josh O'Connor), and her tennis champion husband (Mike Faist) across 13 years of their shared relationship, culminating in the latter two's match at the ATP Challenger Tour.

Kuritzkes' screenplay was acquired by MGM in February 2022, with the main cast and Guadagnino being hired shortly after; Zendaya, O'Connor, and Faist trained for months with former tennis player and coach Brad Gilbert to prepare for their roles. Principal photography ran from May to June 2022, primarily in Boston. Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, who previously worked with Guadagnino on Call Me by Your Name (2017) and Suspiria (2018), served as cinematographer.

Delayed from an initial September 2023 release in response to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Challengers premiered in Sydney on March 26, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios one month later. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $94.2 million worldwide.