Latest in Toronto International Film Festival

EXCLUSIVE: Rebel Wilson has enlisted one of Hollywood's most pugilistic attorneys to take on the producers of her directorial debut. Fresh off locking down The Deb's spot as the closer of the Toronto International Film Festival, the Pitch Perfect star has hired Bryan Freedman, I've learned. A…

EXCLUSIVE: Bleecker Street has acquired the U.S. rights to TIFF standout One Life, the James Hawes-directed drama that stars Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, with Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter. Scripted by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, the film…

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Classics is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Daddio, the Christy Hall-directed two-hander starring Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson. The film established itself as a bright spot in its premiere at Telluride and then at Toronto. SPC will get North America, Latin America and…

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix closed a $20 million deal on Hit Man, making the biggest deal at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and of the year for that matter. After the Richard Linklater-directed noir comic thriller debuted to raves at Venice, the film was expected to fetch the biggest deal of the fall…

Backspot Section: Discovery Director: D.W. Waterson Story by D.W. Waterson /Script by Joanne Sarazen Logline: Riley, a mid-level cheerleader, is given an opportunity to cheer with the All-Star team Thunderhawks. With a competition looming, Riley must navigate her crippling anxiety, her…

Stamped From The Beginning  Section: TIFF Docs Director: Roger Ross Williams Writers: Adapted from Ibram X. Kendi’s book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America  Logline: Williams' documentary adaptation uses an innovative animation process that…

ROYAL HOTEL Section: Gala Presentations Director: Kitty Green Screenwriter: Oscar Redding, Kitty Green Logline: Two American girls (Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick) run out of cash while backpacking around Australia. To get home, they take a job in a rowdy pub in a remote mining…

RUSTIN Section: Special Presentations Director: George C. Wolfe Screenwriter: Julian Breece, Dustin Lance Black Logline: In 1963, Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo) helps to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, only to find himself marginalized by…

THE CRITIC Section: Special Presentations Director: Anand Tucker Screenwriter: Patrick Marber Logline: A savage newspaper theatre critic (Ian McKellen) teams up with an actress (Gemma Arteton) in an attempt to blackmail his editor in 1930s London. International Sales:…

ONE LIFE Section: Special Presentations Director: James Hawes Screenwriter: Lucinda Coxon, Nick Drake Logline: One Life tells the story of Sir Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins), a British stockbroker who visited Prague in 1939 was shocked by the country's desperate situation…

PAIN HUSTLERS Section: Special Presentations Director: David Yates Screenwriter: Wells Tower Logline: Pain Hustlers is the story of a woman named Liza Drake (Emily Blunt), a struggling divorcee who gets a job at a low-rent pharma company. She transforms it into a hugely successful…

EXCLUSIVE: In competitive bidding, A24 has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to Sing Sing, the Greg Kwedar-directed drama that stars Colman Domingo. The film premiered at Toronto to rapturous reviews and A24 is plotting a 2024 theatrical release. Financed and produced by Black Bear, the Marfa Peach…