Hollywood star Brad Pitt jetted into Italy today ahead of the opening of the Venice film festival.

The star made it a family affair, bringing along his two eldest sons, seven-year-old Maddox and Pax, four.

His partner Angelina Jolie remains in South of France with the rest of the couple's brood, including newborn twins Vivienne and Knox.

Boys day out: Brad Pitt arrived in Venice today with sons Maddox and Pax

Dad on duty: Brad, who is attending the Venice film festival, prepares to board a boat with his little charges

Brad will tomorrow join his close friend and co-star George Clooney on the red carpet for the Coen brothers' eagerly awaited Burn After Reading.

The film is not in the prestigious competition, but reaction in Venice will indicate whether Joel and Ethan Coen can repeat their success of 2008's Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men.

The black comedy follows two gym employees as they seek to sell a computer disc containing memoirs of a sacked CIA analyst, but events spiral out of their, and everyone else's control.

Hold tight: Four-year-old Pax sits close to his daddy as they take a water taxi around the Venetian lagoon

Future celebrity? Four-year-old Pax is so comfortable with photographers, he was happily waving to them as he sped off with his dad

La dolce vita: George Clooney soaks up the sights in Venice