Let the award season begin!
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game.
Weinstein Company
The Toronto International Film Festival, which takes place every year in September, marks the start of Serious Movie Season. Most of the aspiring Oscar contenders will have their premieres there before they hit theaters, while seemingly every major star with a new film heads to Canada to promote their projects.
On Tuesday, the festival revealed its gala and special screenings in the first of several announcements that will be made over the next few weeks before TIFF begins on Sept. 4. Among the highlights are the directorial debuts of Chris Evans (Before We Go) and Jon Stewart (Rosewater); Shawn Levy's highly anticipated dramedy (This Is Where I Leave You), starring Jason Bateman and Tina Fey; and the Broadway musical adaptation The Last Five Years, with Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.
On the biopic front, there's Edward Zwick's Pawn Sacrifice with Tobey Maguire playing chess legend Bobby Fischer, and The Imitation Game, in which Benedict Cumberbatch plays the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing.
Ramin Bahrani's 99 Homes finds Andrew Garfield going indie to play a desperate construction worker trying to get his home back, while The Drop features Tom Hardy starring alongside the late James Gandolfini in a crime drama. In Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a freelance cameraman who gets caught up in the ruthless world of TV news, while Kristen Stewart, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, and Julianne Moore star in Alzheimer's saga Still Alice.
TIFF 2014 will run from Sept. 4 through Sept. 14. Updates to the lineup will be added here as they're announced.
Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher.
Scott Garfield/Fair Hill, LLC
Black and White
Mike Binder, USA, World Premiere
Black and White is the story of a widowed grandfather who is left to raise his biracial granddaughter. When the little girl's paternal grandmother seeks custody, a bitter legal battle ensues that forces the uneasy family members to have an honest conversation about life, death, anger, and America's racial divide. Starring Academy Award winners Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer, as well as Anthony Mackie, Jennifer Ehle, Gillian Jacobs, Bill Burr, Andre Holland, and Jillian Estell.
The Equalizer
Antoine Fuqua, USA, World Premiere
In this big-screen adaptation of the cult '80s TV show, McCall believes he has put his past behind him and has dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can't stand idly by — he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to exact vengeance upon anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer. Starring Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Bill Pullman, and Melissa Leo.
Foxcatcher
Bennett Miller, USA, Canadian Premiere
Based on true events, this film tells the dark and fascinating story of the unlikely and ultimately tragic relationship between an eccentric multimillionaire and two champion wrestlers. Starring Anthony Michael Hall, Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Vanessa Redgrave, Mark Ruffalo, and Sienna Miller.
Haemoo
Shim Sung-bo, South Korea, International Premiere
The ragtag crew of a fishing boat takes on a dangerous commission to smuggle a group of illegal immigrants from China to Korea, in this tense high-seas adventure co-scripted by South Korean genre-movie guru Bong Joon-ho. Starring Kim Yoon-seok, and Park Yoo- chun.
The Judge
David Dobkin, USA, World Premiere
Big city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth, and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard, and Billy Bob Thornton.
A Little Chaos (closing night film)
Alan Rickman, U.K., World Premiere
A landscape gardener with a taste for the unconventional is invited to design one of the fountains at the Palace of Versailles. As she battles with the weather, the perilous rivalries at the court of Louis XIV, and her own private demons, she finds herself drawn closer to the formality and enigma of the architect who hired her. Starring Kate Winslet, Stanley Tucci, Alan Rickman, and Matthias Schoenaerts.
Maps to the Stars
David Cronenberg, Canada/Germany, North American Premiere
David Cronenberg forges both a wicked social satire and a very human ghost story from today's celebrity-obsessed culture. Starring Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams, Sarah Gadon, John Cusack, and Robert Pattinson.
The New Girlfriend (Une nouvelle amie)
François Ozon, France, World Premiere
When her best friend Lea dies, Claire falls into a deep depression. However, after making a surprising discovery about her late friend's husband, she's given a new lease on life. Starring Romain Duris, Anaïs Demoustier and Raphaël Personnaz.
Pawn Sacrifice
Ed Zwick, USA, World Premiere
In this remarkable true story set in the height of the Cold War, chess legend Bobby Fischer is locked in a gripping championship clash with the Soviets as he struggles against his own psychological demons while the whole world anxiously awaits the outcome. Starring Tobey Maguire, Peter Sarsgaard, and Liev Schreiber.
The Riot Club
Lone Scherfig, U.K., World Premiere
A privileged young man is inducted into the exclusive, debaucherous company of Oxford's elite "Riot Club" in this scathing dissection of the British class system. Based on the hit play Posh, the film stars Natalie Dormer, Max Irons, Sam Clafin, Jessica Brown Findlay, and Douglas Booth.
Samba
Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, France, World Premiere
Samba migrated to France 10 years ago from Senegal, and has since been plugging away at various lowly jobs. Alice is a senior executive who has recently undergone a burnout. Both struggle to get out of their dead-end lives — Samba's willing to do whatever it takes to get working papers, while Alice tries to get her life back on track — until fate draws them together. Balancing lighthearted moments with heavier emotion, Samba is a story about two strangers on a new path to happiness. Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Omar Sy, and Tamar Rahim.
This Is Where I Leave You
Shawn Levy, USA, World Premiere
Shawn Levy's dramatic comedy follows four adult siblings who return home after their father's death to spend a week with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes, and might-have-beens. Confronting their history and frayed relationships among those who know and love them best, they reconnect in hysterical and emotionally affecting ways. Starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, and Kathryn Hahn.
Wild
Jean-Marc Vallée, USA, International Premiere
After years of reckless behavior, a heroin addiction, and the destruction of her marriage, Cheryl Strayed makes a rash decision. Haunted by memories of her mother Bobbi and with absolutely no experience, she sets out to hike more than a thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail all on her own. Wild powerfully reveals Cheryl's terrors and pleasures as she forges ahead on a journey that maddens, strengthens, and ultimately heals her. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, Gaby Hoffmann, and Kevin Rankin.
