The Toronto International Film Festival annually boasts one of the deepest and glitziest line-ups of the year, and while there are many under-the-radar discoveries to be made, TIFF can be a very effective launching pad for upcoming studio releases and Oscar hopefuls alike. With Tom Hanks, Ben Affleck, Ryan Gosling, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kristen Stewart, Jake Gyllenhaal, Spike Lee, Keira Knightley, Bill Murray and more bringing films to Toronto, which films and A-listers are set to make the biggest splash at the fest starting tomorrow night?
[PHOTO GALLERY: The 15 Toronto Titles Most Likely To Succeed]
Argo, Ben Affleck
Headed to theaters in October via Warner Bros., Ben Affleck’s third directorial effort is also his most ambitious to date following his strong crime thrillers Gone Baby Gone and The Town. Based on the true story of a joint Hollywood-CIA plot to rescue six diplomats during the Iran Hostage Crisis, Argo boasts a stellar supporting cast – Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Philip Baker Hall, Alan Arkin, Clea Duvall, and Kyle Chandler among them – anchored by Affleck himself as real life CIA operative Tony Mendez. Oscar buzz began last weekend at Telluride, where Affleck earned kudos for his work in front of and behind the camera.
The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson’s much-anticipated drama has navigated its own unorthodox course of promotion through secret screenings and teaser trailers ahead of its September 14 bow in limited release. (Read Movieline's sneak review here.) A highly successful official bow at the Venice Film Festival before a stop in Toronto only shored up more critical support for the period drama, about an ex-seaman (Joaquin Phoenix) drawn into the inner circle of an L. Ron Hubbard-esque figure (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Expect Anderson’s latest to keep riding the wave all the way through awards season and pique interest beyond the art house with its parallels to Scientology.
The Place Beyond the Pines, Derek Cianfrance
In The Place Beyond The Pines Ryan Gosling - tattooed, blond, and a biker - reunites with director Derek Cianfrance, who captured one of Gosling’s finest and most wrenching performances in Blue Valentine. Here Cianfrance pits Gosling’s vagabond-outlaw motorcyclist against an ambitious young cop (Bradley Cooper) in what Toronto Film Festival artistic director Cameron Bailey calls “a study of vengeance, memory and fate.” Rose Byrne and Eva Mendes (who's been dating Gosling, ZOMG) also star. If you loved the Baby Goose in Drive, how can you resist?
On the Road, Walter Salles
Despite mixed reviews out of Cannes, Walter Salles’ adaptation of the Beat generation classic is primed to make a splash upon release this December – mostly thanks to the star power (and, let's be real, the tabloid power) of Kristen Stewart, whose turn as the wild Marylou marks the beginning of a departure from her well-known Twilight alter ego. But On the Road could also boost the profile of Garrett Hedlund (TRON) – and the additional wattage of Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, and Amy Adams doesn’t hurt, either.
Looper, Rian Johnson
Rian Johnson (Brick, Brothers Bloom) is back with a sci-fi tale with a twist: Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars underneath a prosthetic Bruce Willis nose as Joe, a “looper” – a hitman who offs targets sent back in time from the future. When he encounters his future self and fails to finish the job, Joe finds himself both hunter and hunted as time runs out. After premiering on opening night of the Toronto Film Festival, Looper will hit theaters on September 28 – a surprising must-see for sci-fi fans.
[PHOTO GALLERY: The 15 Toronto Titles Most Likely To Succeed]
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell
Bradley Cooper also shows up in this selection from David O. Russell, a comedy-drama about a man who moves in with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jackie Weaver) after losing it all – wife, job, sanity – and doing time in an institution. After its Toronto debut, Silver Linings Playbook will hit theaters in November, when a turn by Jennifer Lawrence as Cooper’s quirky neighbor and a rare appearance by Chris Tucker (not to mention DANCE SEQUENCES, PEOPLE) could help draw in audiences.
Bad 25, Spike Lee
Spike Lee dons his documentarian hat for Bad 25, an ode to Michael Jackson’s iconic “Bad” album. Featuring interviews with celebrities and musicians celebrating Jackson, Bad 25 promises to be a true love letter to the King of Pop and will air on ABC this Thanksgiving before coming to DVD in the spring.
Cloud Atlas, Lana & Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer
Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis weave together an epic adaptation of David Mitchell’s nesting doll of a story, with A-listers like Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and Susan Sarandon appearing – some in multiple guises as different characters in the identity-bending saga – alongside Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Bae Doona, Hugh Grant, and Hugo Weaving. Cloud Atlas world premieres at Toronto before opening via Warner Bros. in October.
End of Watch, David Ayer
Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena star as beat cops in Los Angeles who become the target of a drug cartel in the latest police drama from David Ayer (Harsh Times, Street Kings), who wrote Training Day. The found footage pic opens later this month, hoping to build buzz out of Toronto.
The Company You Keep, Robert Redford
Sundance figurehead Robert Redford debuts his own politically-tinged drama not in Park City but at Toronto, angling for awards positioning – and with a line-up like this, it could take off. Shia LaBeouf stars as an ambitious journalist who uncovers the real identity of a former Weather Underground political activist (Redford), prompting him to go on the run as the FBI closes in. Susan Sarandon, Anna Kendrick, Julie Christie, and Terrence Howard fill in the cast. Reminiscent of Redford’s Three Days of the Condor, this could be the film that helps Redford bounce back after a recent string of directorial disappointments.
[PHOTO GALLERY: The 15 Toronto Titles Most Likely To Succeed]
Anna Karenina, Joe Wright
The Tolstoy classic gets a gorgeous new adaptation courtesy of Joe Wright, who directs Keira Knightley for the third time after guiding her to an Academy Award nomination for Pride & Prejudice and earning six Oscar nods for Atonement. Knightley taking on the classics in a corset alone is a proven recipe for success, but add in her dueling suitors – Jude Law as Anna Karenina’s husband and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as her young lover – and the film’s sumptuous, bold stylistic choices, and Wright’s vision could strike a fresh chord with the familiar tale.
The Impossible, J.A. Bayona
A family is torn apart by the devastation of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible, which propels us into the inconceivable experience of the victims who lost everything, and those lucky few who survived. As the parents at the center of the drama, Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts bring star wattage and emotion to the fore; the film’s Christmas-week theatrical debut promises inspirational holiday fare. Start stockpiling Kleenex now.
Hyde Park On Hudson, Roger Michell
Word around the festival circuit is Bill Murray’s gunning for Oscar in this biopic, about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – and his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams) and mistress (Laura Linney) as King George VI visits on the eve of WWII. Director Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Changing Lanes) recently directed Peter O'Toole to an Best Actor nomination in Venus. Can he do it again with Murray?
The Paperboy, Lee Daniels
Lee Daniels’s sweaty, Southern-friend potboiler, about a reporter (Matthew McConaughey) investigating a death row inmate (John Cusack), earned notoriety at Cannes; will Toronto festival-goers react as divisively? Between the prospect of seeing Zac Efron break out into adult drama and Nicole Kidman in an eye-catching, hot-blooded turn as a woman involved with Cusack’s prisoner – not to mention, yes, Kidman tending to Efron’s jellyfish sting the old-fashioned way – art house audiences should be on the lookout for this one in limited release this October.
Emperor, Peter Webber
Tommy Lee Jones and Matthew Fox play General Douglas MacArthur and his General Bonner Fullers, respectively, in this period piece from director Peter Webber (Girl With a Pearl Earring). As Japan falls to the U.S. at the end of World War II, Fox’s Fuller finds the fate of the country in his hands as he searches the land for a lost love. Sumptuous production design and its leads should help Emperor find a distribution deal. (Bonus fun fact: it’s the first film to be granted access to film on the Imperial grounds in Japan.)
Previously: 10 Filmmaker-Driven TIFF Pics To Track, Including New Malick, Baumbach, Whedon, And Korine