Lady Gaga’s ‘A Star Is Born’ Venice Premiere Plagued by Technical Malfunction

Lady Gaga’s world premiere of A Star Is Born at the Venice Film Festival was derailed by a technical malfunction that occurred during the showing, according to attendees at the Aug. 31 screening.

The movie went black in the middle of the screening, which was interrupted at about 8:30 pm, Venice time, with an interruption that lasted for 15 to 20 minutes.

Gaga was seen on the red carpet making “praying” gestures to avoid getting rained on in her full-length pink feather ball gown. She made her way inside before heavy rains started. As the movie began, a heavy storm started across the Lido when a bolt of lightning hit the Sala Grande where the premiere was held, causing an outage to the power servicing the projector.

As technicians rushed to fix the mishap, Gaga was seen giggling during the wait. Director Bradley Cooper shouted “Thanks for waiting,” to the audience as soon the projection started back up. The audience applauded when the screening resumed and at the movie’s conclusion treated it to a lengthy standing ovation.

Technical difficulties are not uncommon in Venice. At opener Everest in 2015, problems with the 3D projection caused a similar outage for 10 minutes during the premiere.

In a review from the festival, The Hollywood Reporter critic David Rooney wrote of the film, “There’s a lot to love in Bradley Cooper’s entertaining remake of A Star is Born, including his convincing portrayal of a hard-drinking country rocker in some electrifying concert scenes, and the captivating debut in a big-screen leading role of Lady Gaga as the singer-songwriter whose career he launches, only to watch it quickly eclipse his own.”

The Warner Bros. film, an awards hopeful that marks Cooper’s directorial debut, is set to be released stateside on Oct. 5, 2018. The film is also set to screen at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

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