Chloe Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’, Paul Greengrass’ ‘The Lost Bus’ and Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out 3’ among Toronto first wave
Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Paul Greengrass’s wildfire drama The Lost Bus starring Matthew McConaughey, and Rian Johnson’s ensemble Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery led by Daniel Craig, are among 11 Galas and Special Presentations that will screen at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Paul Greengrass’s wildfire drama The Lost Bus starring Matthew McConaughey, and Rian Johnson’s ensemble Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery led by Daniel Craig, are among 11 Galas and Special Presentations that will screen at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Apple Original Films’ The Lost Bus and the third Knives Out mystery at Netflix receive their world premieres at the festival’s 50th edition running September 4-14. The latter will go on to open the BFI London Film Festival in October.
Zhao’s period drama for Focus Features is about a tragedy that befell Shakespeare and his wife, and will be a Canadian premiere, indicating a world premiere either at the Venice film festival or in Telluride.
Further world premieres in the 11-strong roster announced today include Hiraki’s comedy drama Rental Family starring Brendan Fraser for Searchlight Pictures; Nicholas Hytner’s The Choral, starring Ralph Fiennes as a Yorkshire chorus master during the First World War that is based on a script by Alan Bennett to which Sony Pictures Classics has North American rights; and Agnieszka Holland’s Franz, a biopic about the Czech absurdist author Franz Kafka. Films Boutique is handling worldwide sales for the latter.
Rounding out the world premieres are Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman starring Channing Tatum as the real-life rooftop robber Jeffrey Manchester for Paramount, and Clement Virgo’s drama Steal Away, on which WME Independent is handling world sales.
Receiving their North American premieres are three from Cannes: Rebecca Zlotowski’s French-language A Private Life starring Jodie Foster which screened out of competition on the Croisette, and Neeraj Ghaywan’s Indian drama and Un Certain Regard entry Homebound, which WME Independent represents for North America and Paradise City for the world.
Peter Chan’s crime story She Has No Name starring Zhang Ziyi also gets its North American premiere. A 150-minute version of the film premiered in Cannes 2024 before Chan cut it into two parts and took the first to Shanghai International Film Festival over the summer.
“Since its inception, TIFF has championed global cinema that opens our eyes and brings us together,” said Anita Lee, chief programming officer. These films reflect a sweeping range of voices and styles that embodies the spirit of TIFF and our commitment to a public audience.”
TIFF will announce Galas and Special Presentations, Platform & Jury, Discovery, and Midnight Madness next week, and more programming in August.
As previously announced the festival will open with Colin Hanks’ documentary John Candy: I Like Me, while Steven Soderbergh’s comedy The Christophers, Alejandro Amenábar’s adventure The Captive, and Nia DaCosta’s Hedda were among a first wave of five films in Special Presentations unveiled late last month.
Galas
The Choral (UK-US)
Dir. Nicholas Hytner
World premiere
Homebound (India)
Dir. Neeraj Ghaywan
North American premiere
Hamnet (UK-US)
Dir. Chloé Zhao
Canadian premiere
A Private Life (France)
Dir. Rebecca Zlotowski
North American premiere
Roofman (US)
Dir. Derek Cianfrance
World premiere
She Has No Name (China)
Dir. Peter Ho-Sun Chan
North American premiere
Special Presentations
Franz (Czech Rep-Ger-Pol)
Dir. Agnieszka Holland
World premiere
The Lost Bus (US)
Dir. Paul Greengrass
World premiere
Rental Family (US-Jap)
Dir. Hikari
World premiere
Steal Away (Can-Bel)
Dir. Clement Virgo
World premiere
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (US)
Dir. Rian Johnson
World premiere