Brad Pitt and George Clooney hugged and danced at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday night as the two megastars’ latest film, “Wolfs,” received a polite four-minute standing ovation.

The premiere itself was delayed by more than 30 minutes as fans crowded into Venice’s Sala Grande in an attempt to catch a glimpse at Pitt and Clooney. When the duo finally arrived inside, the sound — and general vibe — in the theater could only be described as carnal. Both actors took to different sides of the carpet, signing autographs and taking selfies, before being whisked away to their seats by security.

As the two stars entered the theater, they greeted the eager crowd with a booming “Buonasera!,” prompting some fans to shout back in hopes of being noticed. Even as the film began rolling, the chaos continued, with those without tickets scrambling to find any empty seats. Some were ejected during the early scenes in the film as latecomers entered.

When the credits rolled on the crime romp, Pitt and Clooney hugged it out before grooving to Sade’s “Smooth Operator.” Clooney then turned to his wife Amal, and the two shared a sweet kiss. He and Pitt then walked down the stairs, from the balcony of the theater where they were seated, to greet the cheering fans.

The four-minute ovation was perhaps not as long as one may have expected given Pitt and Clooney’s star power, but it seemed that festival officials were keen on getting audience members out of the theater given the premiere’s late start time and unruly energy.

Pitt landed in Venice only two days after his ex Angelina Jolie debuted her latest movie “Maria” here, to an eight-minute standing ovation and Oscar buzz. Neither mentioned their long pending divorce, and Pitt wasn’t asked at a press conference on Sunday about court documents that allege “a history of physical abuse of Jolie” in their marriage. (The hashtag #BradPittIsAnAbuser trended on the social media platform X shortly after “Wolfs” premiered.)

Written and directed by “Spider-Man” helmer Jon Watts (who had to miss the premiere after testing positive for COVID), the Apple Original Films action-comedy stars Pitt and Clooney as two professional fixers who prefer to work alone, but must come together after being hired for the same job. “Wolfs” also stars Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams and Poorna Jagannathan. A sequel to the film is already in development with Watts and the two stars attached, Apple announced earlier this month.

“Wolfs” marks Pitt and Clooney’s first time co-headlining a film since the Coen Brother’s 2008 black comedy “Burn After Reading.” Prior to that, the two were co-stars in the “Ocean’s” franchise from 2001 to 2007. Both actors have graced the Lido before, with Clooney attending in 2009 for Grant Heslov’s “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and Pitt having premiered David Fincher’s “Fight Club” in 1999 and earning the Volpi Cup for best actor with Andrew Dominik’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” in 2007.

In a recent cover story for GQ, Pitt and Clooney discussed their longtime friendship and the state of Hollywood today. “They haven’t developed stars the way the studio system used to,” Clooney said. “We kind of were at the very end of that, where you could work at a studio and do three or four films, and there was some plan to it. And I don’t think that’s necessarily the case anymore. So it’s harder for you to sell somebody something on the back of a star.”

After its Venice premiere, “Wolfs” will release in theaters for a limited time starting Sept. 20 before debuting on Apple TV+ on Sept. 27.

Poland held solemn ceremonies early on Sunday, marking the 85th anniversary of German Nazi forces invading and bombing the central European country’s territory at the start of World War II.

Sirens wailed and a memorial bell tolled as Polish President Andrzej Duda and deputy ambassador of Germany, Robert Rohde, attended an observance in the town of Wielun, the first civilian target of German bombing in the small hours of 1 September 1939 in Europe.

Some 1,200 people were killed in the attack.

“We can say that we have forgiven even though we remember, even though the pain is persisting, and even though there are still tens of thousands of those who have been directly hurt by the Germans,” Duda said. He also called on Berlin to make amends.

Meanwhile, at a monument on the Baltic Sea’s Westerplatte peninsula, where a military outpost was shelled by a German warship just minutes after Wielun was attacked, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz laid wreaths and attended a memorial roll call for fallen soldiers.

At the time, the outpost’s outnumbered troops fought for seven days before surrendering to the Germans, becoming a symbol of heroism and patriotism.

Tusk said war was present again in the region as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, grinds on.

He said, in a clear reference to Germany, it wasn’t enough to speak about “reconciliation” or to “bend your head in a sense of guilt,” adding that the best sign of lessons learned from the past is “the readiness to organise the entire western world, Europe, and NATO for the defence against aggression that we are witnessing today in the battlefields of Ukraine.”

“Today we will not say ‘never again’. Today we must say ‘never again alone’,” the prime minister said. Tusk also said Poland was building “the most modern army in Europe, one of the strongest in Europe” to actively contribute to the unity and strength of the NATO defence alliance and the European continent, “to defend our civilisation,” and “never again expose our homeland to any risks”.

In more than five years of WWII and brutal German occupation, Poland lost 6 million citizens, or a sixth of its population, of which 3 million were Jews.

Poland’s previous right-wing government demanded $1.3 trillion (€1.17tr) in damages from Germany. Tusk’s current cabinet has toned the demand down to some form of compensation that could serve to strengthen the ties between the two neighbours.

The country also suffered huge losses to its infrastructure, industry, and agriculture.

Germany insists the matter is closed because it paid damages to the Moscow-led East Bloc after the war. Warsaw says it did not receive any share of it.

However, addressing attendees at the Wielun observance on Sunday, Duda said: “Forgiveness and the admission of guilt are one thing, but compensation for the damage caused is another thing. And this issue has not been settled yet.”

BOVINA, Miss. (AP) — Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday were at the scene of a bus crash in Mississippi that killed seven people and injured dozens of others.

They plan to look at how well the tires were maintained, NTSB member Todd Inman said at a news conference late Saturday. The NTSB previously said the crash was caused by tire failure.

The 2018 Volvo bus was traveling westbound on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County early Saturday morning when it left the roadway and overturned, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol. No other vehicle was involved.

Six people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene and another died at a hospital, according to a highway patrol news release. Thirty-six people were taken by ambulance to hospitals.

The highway patrol did not immediately have an update on their conditions Sunday.

The dead included a 6-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister, according to Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey. They were identified by their mother. Authorities were working to identify the other victims, he said.

The bus was traveling from Atlanta to Dallas with 41 passengers and two drivers, the highway patrol said.

Inman said the NTSB will also look at the carrier’s safety record and protections for bus occupants.

The bus was operated by Autobuses Regiomontanos. A woman who answered the phone at its Laredo, Texas, office said it was aware of the crash, but she didn’t answer questions or provide her name.

The transit company says it has 20 years of experience providing cross-border trips between 100 destinations in Mexico and the U.S. Its website promotes “a modern fleet of buses that receive daily maintenance,” and offers “trips with a special price for workers.”