Martin McDonagh's 'Wild Horse Nine' Premieres at Venice, Bringing CIA Drama and Easter Island to the Lido
Martin McDonagh's new film Wild Horse Nine had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on 3 September 2026, screening in the Venezia 83 Competition with a running time of 118 minutes (La Biennale). The cast — John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi and Parker Posey — arrived by water taxi on the Lido on Thursday ahead of the premiere (The Hollywood Reporter). Tom Waits, who plays a supporting role, was absent.
The film is backed by Searchlight Pictures and is a UK–USA co-production. It marks McDonagh's follow-up to The Banshees of Inisherin, which won Venice's best screenplay and best actor prizes in 2022 and went on to receive nine Oscar nominations (The Hollywood Reporter).
Wild Horse Nine is set shortly before the 1973 military coup in Chile that overthrew President Salvador Allende (TIFF). Malkovich and Rockwell play Chris and Lee, longtime CIA partners stationed in Santiago who are dispatched to Easter Island by their bureau chief MJ, played by Buscemi, to assist a covert US campaign to undermine Chile's democratically elected government (The Hollywood Reporter).
McDonagh said he did not intend the film as commentary on contemporary geopolitics. But he acknowledged the project took on sharper resonance after US military action in Venezuela and the kidnapping of Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro earlier in 2026 (The Hollywood Reporter). The film also touches on CIA operations in Guatemala, the Congo and the Bay of Pigs — a subject McDonagh believes is not talked about enough.
The seed was planted more than a decade ago. McDonagh visited Easter Island and became fascinated by the Moai statues, the island's isolation and its wild horses. He wrote several versions of the script, including one involving a father and son and another featuring two actor characters, before settling on two CIA agents on the island (The Hollywood Reporter).
Production took place on location on Easter Island, which McDonagh described as a remote and challenging shoot where the cast and crew felt spiritually helped by the place. A trailer featuring Malkovich and Rockwell was released in March 2026, followed by a first clip ahead of the Venice premiere (The Hollywood Reporter; IFTN).
The festival run is gathering pace. Wild Horse Nine is part of the Toronto Film Festival 2026 lineup (The Hollywood Reporter). It will open the Mill Valley Film Festival (The Hollywood Reporter), and the Zurich Film Festival will screen it while honouring McDonagh with a Tribute To award (The Hollywood Reporter).
For audiences, the appeal is straightforward: a decorated film-maker working at festival-competition scale, a cast of proven character actors, and a story that sits at the intersection of Cold War history and a landscape few films have ever reached.
