Jamie Lee Curtis to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Venice Film Festival

Award ceremony for the Golden Lion will take place Sept. 8 ahead of a premiere screening of “Halloween Kills”

Jamie Lee Curtis Venice
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Jamie Lee Curtis will receive the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s upcoming festival.

Curtis will be on hand at the festival to receive the prize in a ceremony on September 8 ahead of a world premiere screening of her next film, “Halloween Kills,” which will play out-of-competition at the festival.

“I am incredibly humbled to be honored in this way by the Venice International Film Festival,” Curtis said in a statement. “It seems impossible to me that I’ve been in this industry long enough to be receiving ‘Lifetime Achievement’ recognition, and to have it happen now, with ‘Halloween Kills,’ is particularly meaningful to me. 

She continued: “‘Halloween‘ — and my partnership with Laurie Strode — launched and sustained my career, and to have these films evolve into a new franchise that is beloved by audiences around the world was, and remains, a gift. Italian Cinema has always honored and heralded the genre that gave me my career, so I couldn’t be more proud and happy to accept this award from the Venice International Film Festival on behalf of Laurie and all the courageous heroines of the world who stand tall in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and refuse to yield.”

“Jamie Lee Curtis belongs to that rarefied group of Hollywood actors who best reflect the qualities that are the very soul of the global film industry and its legacy. A direct descendant of America’s film aristocracy – she is the daughter of two unforgettable stars, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh – Jamie Lee Curtis is the natural embodiment of a star who knows how to play roles with versatility and amenability, all while infusing them with her peerless charisma and signature personality,” Alberto Barbera, the festival’s director, said in a statement.

He continued: “All these qualities, combined with her work as an author of children’s books and her commitment to her charitable work have cemented her status as an indelible and enduring global artist. To date, her extraordinary four-decade career, which began with her dazzling debut in John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic, ‘Halloween,’ encompasses more than 40 feature films and reminds us that true talent, combined with intelligence, wit, endurance and sheer grit, are the hallmarks of this true and unforgettable star.”

“Halloween Kills” is the second film of a trilogy in David Gordon Green’s rebooted “Halloween” horror franchise, in which Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode. Green and Danny McBride wrote the 2018 “Halloween” and returned for the subsequent films. The film opens from Universal on October 15.

Curtis is working with Blumhouse next on a series adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta mystery novels, and she’ll also appear in the video game movie from Lionsgate and director Eli Roth, “Borderlands.”

The Venice Film Festival is now in its 78th edition and will run between Sept. 1-11, 2021.

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