The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled a star-studded line-up for its 48th edition on Monday, although the ongoing crisis means it’s unclear whether stars will be walking the red carpets Actors’ and writers’ strikes.
Films making their world premieres at TIFF this year include Craig Gillespie’s GameStop drama Dumb Money, starring Paul Dano and Pete Davidson; Ellen Kuras’ Lee, starring Kate Winslet and war photographer Lee Miller; and Tony Goldwyn’s Ezra, starring Robert De Niro and Rose Byrne.
Also coming to Toronto are Michael Keaton’s “Knox Goes Away,” starring Al Pacino and James Marsden; Kristen Scott Thomas’ North Star, starring Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller; David Yates’ Netflix drama Pain Hustlers, starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans; and The Burial by Maggie Betts, starring Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones.
These films and many more, including the directorial debuts of Anna Kendrick (“Woman of the Hour”) and Chris Pine (“Poolman”), will make up some of the gala premieres at TIFF, North America’s largest film festival.
The festival is an important platform for Hollywood to present its fall program and to honor up-and-coming candidates. But like the Venice Film Festival, which kicks off about a week before TIFF’s September 7 launch, Toronto organizers are eagerly watching the event SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
While these strikes continue, actors and writers are banned by their unions from promoting their films. TIFF will continue anyway, but a prolonged strike would weaken the A-listers’ festival and certainly weaken the usual Cacophony of hustle and bustle from Toronto.
The strike has already resulted in one of Venice’s top titles – Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Challengers’ starring Zendaya. as the festival’s opening night selection and move the release to April.
Other big titles appearing on TIFF include Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, starring Paul Giamatti as Boarding Professor; Richard Linklater’s Hitman, an action comedy starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona; Nyad, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, starring Annette Bening as long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad; Mahalia Belo’s The We End Start From, starring Jodie Comer as a mother fleeing flooded London; and Ethan Hawke’s “Wildcat,” starring his daughter Maya Hawke as writer Flannery O’Connor.
TIFF previously announced that Taika Waititi’s football comedy ” The next target wins “opens this year’s festival, which runs until September 17th.
