Keanu Reeves, Sydney Sweeney, Channing Tatum in films heading to Toronto's upcoming edition
Toronto, long known as a powerful showcase for launching awards-hungry and commercially ambitious fall titles, has been seen as losing some of its strength in recent years to festivals in Cannes, Venice and Telluride. This year's TIFF program, which marks its 50th edition, will be closely watched for how its titles are received not only at the festival itself, but in the months ahead.
Among the notable world premieres in Monday's announcement are Aziz Ansari's feature directorial debut 'Good Fortune,' a comedy of identity-swapping and self-discovery starring Ansari and Seth Rogen with Keanu Reeves as an inept angel, and James Vanderbilt's 'Nuremberg' starring Russell Crowe as imprisoned Nazi Hermann Göring, with Rami Malek as the psychiatrist tasked with interviewing him.
Maude Apatow will make her feature directorial debut with 'Poetic License,' starring her mother Leslie Mann alongside Andrew Barth Feldman and Cooper Hoffman. 'True Detective' creator Nic Pizzolatto will also make his feature directing bow with 'Easy's Waltz,' a drama of down-on-their-luck entertainers starring Vince Vaughn and Al Pacino.
TIFF will host the world premiere of Bobby Farrelly's comedy 'Driver's Ed,' starring Kumail Nanjiani, Sam Nivola and Molly Shannon. Alex Winter directs and also appears in the comedy 'Adulthood' alongside Josh Gad, Kaya Scodelario and Billie Lourd. David Mackenzie's crime thriller 'Fuze' stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Sam Worthington, Theo James and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Baz Luhrman will unveil 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,' which utilizes previously unseen footage the director discovered while researching his 2022 film 'Elvis.' The result is what Luhrman has described as 'not specifically a documentary, nor a concert film.'
Other world premieres include Jonathan Etzler's 'Bad Apples,' starring Saoirse Ronan; David Michôd's 'Christy,' starring Sydney Sweeney as boxer Christy Martin; and Alice Winocour's fashion world drama 'Couture,' starring Angelina Jolie.
At this stage in the season, interpreting how a Toronto title is announced can give some clues as to where it may be popping up beforehand. 'International Premiere' can mean a title is also first playing a week earlier at Telluride, while 'North American Premiere' can mean something is playing first at Venice. 'Canadian Premiere' means it is likely playing both Telluride and Venice (or already premiered at Cannes) before coming to Toronto.
The only title listed as an international premiere is Clint Bentley's 'Train Dreams,' which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
North American premieres likely headed to Venice include Gus Van Sant's 'Dead Man's Wire,' starring Bill Skarsgård and Colman Domingo; Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein,' starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi; Mark Jenkin's 'Rose of Nevada,' starring Calum Turner and George MacKay; Mona Fastvold's 'The Testament of Ann Lee,' starring Amanda Seyfried; and Benny Safdie's 'The Smashing Machine,' starring Dwayne Johnson.
Canadian premieres include Edward Berger's 'Ballad of a Small Player' starring Colin Farrell; Jafar Panahi's Cannes-winning 'It Was Just an Accident'; Richard Linklater's 'Nouvelle Vague,' about the making of Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless'; Kleber Mendonça Filho's 'The Secret Agent,' which won best actor at Cannes for Wagner Moura; Daniel Roher's 'Tuner,' starring Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman; and Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value,' starring Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve.
Toronto's previously announced titles include the opening night selection 'John Candy: I Like Me,' a documentary on the beloved Canadian-born actor, directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, as well as the world premiere of Rian Johnson's third Benoit Blanc film starring Daniel Craig, 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.'
Other previously announced world premieres include Derek Cianfrance's 'Roofman,' starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst; Nicholas Hytner's 'The Choral,' starring Ralph Fiennes; Paul Greengrass' 'The Lost Bus,' starring Matthew McConaughey; Hikari's 'Rental Family,' starring Brendan Fraser; Nia DaCosta's 'Hedda,' starring Tessa Thompson; Steven Soderbergh's 'The Christophers,' starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel; and Agnieszka Holland's 'Franz,' a biopic of Franz Kafka.
Other titles already announced for TIFF that will be premiering elsewhere include the Canadian premiere of Chloé Zhao's highly anticipated 'Hamnet,' starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley; and the North American premiere of Rebecca Zlotowski's 'A Private Life,' starring Jodie Foster, which premiered at Cannes.
More of the Toronto program will be announced in the coming days and weeks, including the Platform section for emerging voices and the popular Midnight Madness section. This year's Toronto International Film Festival runs from Sept. 4 to 14.
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