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Hollywood may be synonymous with moviemaking, but Los Angeles has historically been fickle about supporting a major film festival. AFI Fest, which will unfurl the red carpet for opening night on Wednesday, hopes to certify its status as the city’s landmark festival, especially after seeing an encouraging growth in presales this fall. On the first day of availability, advanced tickets showed a spike of 200% over last year’s edition, per American Film Institute president Bob Gazzale.

“I hate to say it, but the question abounds: ‘Are people still going to the movies?’ Yet our passes are sold out,” Gazzale tells Variety. “It says something about the terrific programming team, because they’re finding films of interest. That’s naturally going to attract an audience, no matter what city we’re in.”

Strong programming hasn’t always guaranteed sustained support for local fests, though. The once-popular L.A. Film Festival...

The fall festival season has wrapped up! Each year, dozens of movies premiere at festivals with distributors looking to launch them before they’re released in theaters or on streaming services. But dozens more are independent films without distribution that came to the festivals looking to be discovered. This year, over 200 movies made their world premieres across the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival, and we’ve seen some big name movie sales across all four.

Right as Venice got underway, we saw U.S. deals for two of the biggest competition titles on the slate, Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” to Netflix and Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” to A24. A24 also picked up the rights to Venice Silver Lion winner “The Brutalist” in a competitive situation. And some of the hottest discoveries like “Nutcrackers,” “September 5,” and TIFF Audience...

While there’s a few more fall film festivals popping up in the next month, the major ones are behind us, which means we have a strong sense of the films to have on your radar in the coming months and even through 2025. We’ve asked our writers from across the globe to weigh in on their favorite world premieres from Locarno Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and BFI London Film Festival.

Our coverage will continue with a few more reviews this week, and far beyond as we provide updates on the journey of these selections, so continue to explore all of our festival coverage here. In the meantime, check out top picks from our writers below and return soon for our extensive year-end coverage.

Soham Gadre (@SohamGadre)

1. April (Dea Kulumbegashvili)

2 and 3. Youth (Homecoming and Hard Times) (Wang Bing...

As deals continue to trickle in from last month’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Sony Pictures Classics said it has acquired North America and multiple territories to the drama On Swift Horses starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi.

The company has also taken Latin America, Turkey, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, India, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

Daniel Minahan directed from Bryce Kass’s adaptation of the novel by Shannon Pufahl. Edgar-Jones plays Muriel, who along with her husband Lee (Will Poulter) starts a new life in the American West after Lee returns from the Korean War.

Their apparent...

As deals continue to trickle in from last month’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Sony Pictures Classics said it has acquired North America and multiple territories to the drama On Swift Horses starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi.

The company has also taken Latin America, Turkey, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, India, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

Daniel Minahan directed from Bryce Kass’s adaptation of the novel by Shannon Pufahl. Edgar-Jones plays Muriel, who along with her husband Lee (Will Poulter) starts a new life in the American West after Lee returns from the Korean War.

Their apparent...

On the heels of the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sony Pictures Classics has picked up the romantic drama “On Swift Horses” starring Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones. SPC has rights in North America, Latin America, Turkey, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, India, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

Directed by Daniel Minihan (“Fellow Travelers”), the film is based on the Shannon Pufahl novel of the same name and follows Muriel and her husband Lee as they are beginning a bright new life in California upon Lee’s return from the Korean War. But their newfound stability is upended by the arrival of Lee’s charismatic brother, Julius, a wayward gambler with a secret past. A dangerous love triangle quickly forms. When Julius takes off in search of the young card cheat he’s fallen for, Muriel’s longing for something more propels her into a secret life of her own,...

Exclusive: Sony Pictures Classics is closing a deal to acquire On Swift Horses, the Daniel Minahan-directed drama that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last month as a Special Presentation. The film stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter and Diego Calva.

Pic takes place in the 1950s, where married Muriel and her brother-in-law Julius embark on separate but parallel straight life paths, only to discover their closeted desires bubbling to the surface. On Swift Horses is scripted by Bruce Kass and produced by Peter Spears, Theresa Page and Christine Vachon.

UTA Independent Film Group is brokering the North American deal with SPC, and Black Bear International is handling the international territories.

Teyana Taylor (“A Thousand and One”) and Sasha Calle have joined Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the Netflix crime thriller “Rip,” the streamer announced on Friday.

Joe Carnahan (“The Grey”) will direct the project and also wrote the script. The official logline from Netflix is as follows: “Upon discovering millions in cash in a derelict stash house, trust among a team of Miami cops begins to fray. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything is called into question — including who they can rely on.”

“Rip” is being produced by Artists Equity — the artist-led studio founded by Affleck and Damon in 2022. The film’s producers are Affleck, Damon, Luciana Barroso and Dani Bernfeld for Artists Equity. Executive producers are Michael Joe and Kevin Halloran for Artists Equity.

Taylor most recently starred in the drama “A Thousand and One” to critical acclaim. The film premiered at the...

Exclusive: Teyana Taylor and Sasha Calle have joined the ensemble of the upcoming Netflix crime thriller Rip starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, with Joe Carnahan directing. Deadline first reported the news that the package had hit the market back in June, before Netflix scooped it up ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

Carnahan also penned the script, with Affleck, Damon, Luciana Damon and Dani Bernfeld producing for Artists Equity.

The plot follows a group of Miami cops whose trust begins to fray after they discover millions in cash in a derelict stash house. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything is called into question — including who they can rely on. Michael Joe and Kevin Halloran of Artists Equity will executive produce.

After launching Artists Equity in November 2022, Damon and Affleck released the company’s first film, Air, in spring 2023 to strong reviews and a solid box office performance.

As Hollywood continues to dish out one star after the other, one actor has been drawing the attention of fans and critics the most, the alluring and charming Jacob Elordi. Having gained attention for his role in the teen comedy romantic film, The Kissing Booth, his career trajectory is one for the history books.

Jacob Elordi in Saltburn | Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

From his troubled dramatic role in Euphoria to playing Elvis Presley in Priscilla, Elordi is now expected to headline several genres and roles as far as his recent upcoming projects are concerned. While we celebrate his spectacular success, it also sheds light on his fellow actor Tom Holland’s Hollywood career.

Jacob Elordi’s Impressive Hollywood Trajectory: From a Teen Star to a Versatile Actor Jacob Elordi plays Nate Jacobs in Euphoria | Credit: HBO

Jacob Elordi might have garnered fans’ and critics attention as the bad boy Noah Flynn in The Kissing Booth,...

Exclusive: In what is gearing up to be an A-list pairing for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights movie, MRC is tapping Oscar-nominated actress and producer Margot Robbie and BAFTA-nominated actor Jacob Elordi to star in the adaptation of the classic novel.

LuckyChap also will produce Fennell’s upcoming feature film adaptation based on the iconic romance novel by Emily Brontë. Besides being the studio on the project, MRC also will finance the pic.

This marks LuckyChap and Fennell’s third collaboration together, having also produced her most recent pic Saltburn and Promising Young Woman, which won Fennell an Oscar for original screenplay.

Robbie is set to star as Catherine Earnshaw, and Elordi will play Heathcliff. Fennell is set to write, direct and produce. The film is in pre-production gearing up for a UK shoot in 2025.

The original novel by Brontë is considered by many to be one of the great...

In recent years, we have seen a revitalization in the viability of adaptations of adult fiction books. Where the Crawdads Sing was huge in 2022, and just this year, It Ends With Us has become one of the year’s biggest successes. On Swift Horses seems poised to continue that trend, starring some of the buzziest actors working in Hollywood today in a compelling, unexpectedly nuanced romantic drama.

On Swift Horses Review

Based on the popular novel by Shannon Pufahl, On Swift Horses follows a small-town waitress (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her husband’s brother (Jacob Elordi) as they find excitement and unexpected love in the worlds of gambling. As the movie begins, it seems likely to be a relatively standard love triangle melodrama, but it quickly shows itself to have much deeper nuance.

Unfortunately, it would not be possible to discuss the themes the film explores without spoiling its “twist.” Although...

Jacob Elordi is opening up about his steamy scenes with co-star Diego Calva in their upcoming movie On Swift Horses and the first images from the film have been released.

Also starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, the movie is described as a queer love story during a time when queerness wasn’t celebrated or accepted.

Jacob stars as Julius, a Korean war veteran that’s moving in with his brother Lee and Lee’s wife, Muriel. Eventually, the brothers part and Julius finds himself in Las Vegas working as a mole to catch cheaters in casinos. While there, he meets Henry, played by Diego. Julius and Henry feel a natural pull towards each other and eventually begin a romance that they must hide from everyone around them.

According to Jacob during an interview with Vanity Fair, he and Diego went through a lot to get the scenes just right. “We had a...

Daisy Edgar-Jones cites admiration as her first draw to the buzzy TIFF film On Swift Horses. “I loved the producers behind the film. I love Call Me by Your Name and Nomadland, so I was so excited about them taking this project on,” she says of Peter Spears and Mollye Asher while seated alongside her co-star Will Poulter in the middle of a busy press day at the Toronto Film Festival, where the film made its world premiere Sept. 8.

“And then I read the script, and I thought it was so beautiful and lyrical and just this kind of gorgeous exploration of love and self-discovery.” Her cherry on top? “When I found out the cast — Will, Jacob [Elordi], Sasha [Calle] and Diego [Calva] — I was like this is such a cool opportunity to be in a period film with a really exciting young cast.”

Set in the 1950s, the film, adapted from author...

It’s been some time since we’ve had such a ridiculously attractive lineup of buzzworthy young actors as the quartet starring in Daniel Minahan’s On Swift Horses. Daisy Edgar-Jones, the tremendously talented star of Twisters and Normal People, is Muriel, a young woman in 1950s Kansas. Her soon-to-be husband, Lee, is played by Will Poulter, who has shined in everything from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to Kathryn Bigelow’s underrated Detroit. Returning from Korea––and making his introduction to Muriel shirtless, reclining on a car––is Lee’s brother, Julius. Yes, friends: the devil-may-care Julius is played by Jacob Elordi. I have not even gotten to the characters played by Babylon’s Diego Calva and Sasha Calle, a.k.a., the best thing about The Flash.

It’s somehow fitting that the film featuring this group is a soapy slice of ’50s melodrama, one ultimately centered...

Toronto – Queer characters hiding their true selves in the 1950s and early 1960s America is becoming something of its own subgenre. There is already Todd Haynes’ acclaimed melodrama “Carol,” Tom Ford’s “A Single Man,” Bill Condon’s “Gods and Monsters,” and a whole storyline in Stephen Daldry’s “The Hours.” All four of those films also have something in common, they are revered contemporary classics. It gives us no pleasure to report that Daniel Minahan’s “On Swift Horses,” an adaptation of Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel, won’t join those particular films in critical or audience acclaim.

Continue reading ‘On Swift Horses’ Review: Jacob Elordi & Daisy Edgar-Jones Can’t Spark This Queer Drama [TIFF] at The Playlist.

“Nomadland” Oscar-winning producer Peter Spears is winning 2024 with two films: Daniel Minahan’s “On Swift Horses” and Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.” For Guadagnino, Spears has also produced “Call Me By Your Name,” and made a cameo in it, as well as “Bones and All.”

“Well, I think that the more you work with someone, the more you just get a sort of muscle memory with somebody,” Spears tells IndieWire about his creative partnership with Guadagnino at the TIFF premiere of “On Swift Horses,” which he also produced. “The trust in each other goes deeper. “One of my favorite things I’ve done in my professional career is getting to work with [Guadagnino]. I say we’re brothers, we’re sisters. I feel really fortunate to have had the experience.”

Spears revealed that he is currently working on two new projects with Guadagnino. He confirmed that one of the projects, which was previously announced,...

After directing episodes for “Six Feet Under,” “Game of Thrones,” and, most recently, “Fellow Travelers,” Daniel Minahan returns to direct his first feature film in over 20 years. “On Swift Horses” stars a powerhouse cast that includes Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Diego Calva, Will Poulter and Sasha Calle. The film is based on the queer novel by Shannon Pufahl, and centers on newlyweds Muriel and Lee who are beginning a new life when he returns from the Korean War.

The chemistry among all the characters has been teased as palpable and infectious. While most of the promotional first look images thus far have teased both Edgar-Jones’ and Elordi’s characters together, she says that they don’t have a ton of scenes together and that building chemistry with him “was not too difficult.”

“It was really important that in those scenes that you felt that [chemistry],” she told IndieWire at the film’s premiere at TIFF.

Rolling into cinemas is Daniel Minahan’s On Swift Roads, a heartstring-tugging ride back to 1950s America where not everything is as simple as the surface suggests. Helming his first big screen feature since 2001, Minahan adapts Shannon Pufahl’s novel to peer beneath the hoods of seemingly straightforward postwar lives. As the director pilots this tour through repressive eras past, a standout cast hit all the right emotional notes.

We’re introduced to Muriel, dutifully playing the part of small town wife, and Julius, a gambler drifting wherever the wind blows. But cracks soon emerge in their façades. Muriel finds herself drawn elsewhere despite vowing before God and country, while Julius connects with like-minded souls at the fringes. Pursuing hidden truths tests their endurance on a bumpy road with peril lurking around each bend. Though pressured to conform, their spirits long to gallop free across forbidden plains.

Minahan invokes the...

By Sunday morning US acquisitions activity at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was starting to grind through the gears.

Buyers were understood to be circling Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation The Life Of Chuck and David Gordon Green’s festive festival opener Nutcrackers, while A24 announced at the start of the day its US buy on Brady Corbet’s Venice Silver Lion winner The Brutalist.

The Life Of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston and is a drama, despite the heavyweight horror credentials of King and Flanagan. It premiered on Friday and played again as a P&i and public screening on Saturday,...

The Toronto International Film Festival hosted the world premieres of two new films starring breakout “Euphoria” actors Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney. Elordi stars in the LGBTQ drama “On Swift Horses” about a 1950s love triangle. Sweeney takes the lead role in the survival thriller “Eden” directed by renowned filmmaker Ron Howard.

“On Swift Horses” tells the story of newlyweds Muriel and Lee, and Lee’s younger brother Julius. The story takes an unexpected turn when Julius begins a romantic relationship with a casino worker named Henry while visiting Las Vegas. Director Dan Minahan gave actors Elordi and Diego Calva, who plays Henry, freedom to develop their on-screen chemistry. Calva said they spent a week intensely preparing in a motel room. Elordi embraced the challenge of playing the complex Julius. He studied Paul Newman films to inspire his portrayal and enjoyed exploring life on the road as a cowboy character.

The young cast of On Swift Horses lit up the Toronto International Film Festival red carpet on Saturday for the movie’s world premiere.

Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones and director Daniel Minahan were in attendance at the Princess of Wales Theatre to debut their noir-ish queer love story from screenwriter Bryce Kass, based on the Shannon Pufahl novel of the same name.

Also walking the red carpet were co-stars Sasha Calle, Diego Calva, Will Poulter and Kat Cunning.

Set in the 1950s, Edgar-Jones stars as Muriel, who sets off to California with husband Lee (Poulter) to begin a new life following his return from the Korean War. But when Lee’s brother Julius (Elordi) visits, he opens Muriel up to the world of gambling and a love she never expected.

Produced by Peter Spears, Daniel Minahan, Tim Headington, Mollye Asher, Theresa Steele Page and Michael D’Alto, On Swift Horses is looking for distribution.

Euphoria‘s Cassie and Nate made a date at TIFF tonight, but like their HBO series characters left off at the end of season, they weren’t in the same building at the same time. That said, actress Sydney Sweeney and actor Jacob Elordi respectively had world premieres going on at the same time with Eden and On Swift Horses.

Known for playing an unhinged guy on Euphoria, Elordi plays a drifter, who initially has a connection with his brother’s wife (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones) before finding true love in Diego Calva’s Henry amid casino poker tables. Meanwhile, Sweeney, isn’t exactly the Euphoria party girl in Eden, but has her fair share of crazy island life ala White Lotus to contend with in the Ron Howard directed survival period thriller. As Margret, Sweeny is the dutiful wife to Daniel Bruhl’s war vet who seeks a better...

Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones brought some heat to a chilly September night as “On Swift Horses” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. The queer drama follows a card shark and his sister-in-law as they navigate their hidden desires during the height of the 1950s, an era where acting on these impulses could lead to ruin. It’s an erotically charged film, one that features plenty of sex between Elordi’s character, Julius, and Diego Calva, who smolders as a con man who becomes entangled with the mysterious loner. Edgar-Jones, who plays Muriel, the wife of Julius’ brother (Will Poulter), also engages in a steamy affair with Sandra, a bohemian neighbor played by Sasha Calle.

In a Q&a following the screening, “On Swift Horses” director Daniel Minahan said he was drawn to the story because it offered “a re-imagining of the American dream, except through a queer lens.” The...

Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones are heating up the red carpet while attending the premiere of their new movie On Swift Horses at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival!

On Saturday (September 7), the costars posed together outside Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Ontario.

For the occasion, Jacob, 27, looked stylish in an olive suit, which he paired with a white dress shirt. Daisy, 26, wore a sheer blue dress with a graceful train.

Keep reading to find out more…

They were joined at the event by castmates Will Poulter, Diego Calva, Sasha Calle and Cat Cunning. Director Daniel Minahan, screenwriter Bryce Kass and author Shannon Pufahl were also present. We’ve got photos of everyone in the gallery!

Here’s a synopsis of the movie, via Deadline: It “follows newlyweds Muriel and Lee who are beginning a bright new life when he returns from the Korean War. However, this newfound stability is...

It is the Eisenhower era, a time of post-war promise in California, a place for new beginnings and new love. Into this setting, Shannon Pufahl placed her debut novel On Swift Horses, which was a prize winner for lesbian fiction, but in the movie version, this becomes a more complicated romantic drama, mixed with gambling, noir-ish tones, horse racing and a complex love triangle that don’t all mesh as well as they might, but give this attractive and talented cast an “A” for trying to make it all plausible.

Lee (Will Poulter), an agreeable guy has come home from the Korean War to settle down and start a dream kind of family life with his wife Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones), and for a short while, all seems just fine until Lee’s wayward brother Julius enters the picture after some time on the road. Lee’s hope is they all...

While the just-ended Venice Film Festival exploded out of the gate with two high-profile acquisition annoucements in its first 24 hours for Maria and Queer, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was staying true to form as the first major on-site deals were yet to materialise heading into Sunday.

Anticipated heavyweights like Ron Howard’s Eden, Daniel Minahan’s 1950s drama On Swift Horses, and Anderson .Paak’s K-Pops received their world premieres on Saturday, while Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl first screened on Friday and has sparked admiring talk of a possible awards play for Pamela Anderson’s lead...

US buyers have not been in an adventurous mood as the last few markets will attest. However hope springs eternal and acquisitions teams will be on the hunt at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to bulk up pipelines following the Hollywood strikes of 2023.

How theatrical buyers fare against streamers remains to be seen. Financiers and sales agents, many of whom are avowed fans of the theatrical experience, must recoup.

The lure of a worldwide deal with a platform can be hard to resist, and while the North American summer box office rallied well and there are lucrative opportunities for the right theatrical releases,...

There’s never been a “normal” year in the independent film market, but this will be the first time in five years that Toronto and Venice don’t have to deal with active catastrophe. No massive labor strikes, pandemics, virtual screenings, or even overwhelming panic about the box office: Just movies seeking buyers.

Now, only one question remains: With this newfound sense of calm, will they show up? As one sales agent put it to IndieWire: If this year turns out to be slow for indie film sales, there are “no more excuses.”

A lot happened while everyone was busy fending off disaster. It’s unclear if theatrical viewing habits will ever return to the levels of 2019 and nowhere is that more apparent than the indie sector. Back in the day, Netflix and Amazon were major buyers; today, all streamers have scaled way, way back on their acquisitions. They...

The Young and the Restless alum Sasha Calle appears in a brand new movie with an all-Latine cast and wonderful reviews. In the Summers, which has achieved success on the awards circuit, is about two sisters and their complicated relationship with their father.

Super Proud

Calle stars alongside René Pérez Joglar in this tale about the parent-child dynamic. The former Supergirl posted the official trailer on her Instagram account. She included a message showing her pride in the film that Indiewire calls “A Lovely, Delicate Portrait” and Forbes simply calls “Pitch Perfect.” The movie hits select theaters starting Sept. 20.

For her, being a part of In the Summers was everything. She wrote on her social media account, “This film is so beautiful. Everyone who worked on this film — they are beautiful. To have been one small part of it is an honor.

We made a film with an all-Latine cast and crew.

Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) is set to join Olivia Wilde in Gregg Araki’s provocative thriller ‘I Want Your Sex.’

The film features an original script penned by Araki and Karley Sciortino which blithely explores desire, domination and fantasy, and will go into production in Los Angeles in October.

When fresh-faced Elliot (Hoffman) lands an exciting job for renowned artist, icon and provocateur Erika Tracy (Wilde), his fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot soon finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey more profound than he ever could have imagined, into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal and murder.

The film will be produced by Seth Caplan, a past winner of the John Cassavetes Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, alongside Araki, Sciortino, and Black Bear’s Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler. John Friedberg, Joanne Roberts Wiles,...

El festival se celebra del 5 al 15 de septiembre.

El Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto (TIFF) ha completado su programación para la edición de 2024.

Entre las últimas adiciones a la programación de Toronto destacan varias películas que prometen acaparar la atención. Una de ellas es Saturday Night, dirigida por Jason Reitman y protagonizada por un elenco encabezado por Gabriel Labelle. Otra es el estreno mundial de On Swift Horses, de Daniel Minahan, con Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva y Sasha Calle

Otros estrenos mundiales que se añaden a Toronto son Hold Your Breath, codirigida por Karrie Crouse y Will Joines, y protagonizada por la siempre destacada Sarah Paulson, junto a Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Annaleigh Ashford y Amiah Miller, Shell, de Max Minghella, con Kate Hudson y Elisabeth Moss en los papeles principales, The Salt Path, de Marianne Elliott, con un reparto encabezado por Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs, James Lance y Hermione Norris,...

New York-based Wavelength, which co-financed TIFF world premiere On Swift Horses, has hired former Imagine Entertainment executive Caitlin Cleary as director of scripted development.

Based in Brooklyn, Cleary’s primary focus will be narrative features as she collaborates with president Joe Plummer and London-based managing director Dan Bowen to expand the company into the scripted space and branded entertainment.

Her arrival comes as the company founded by Jenifer Westphal builds a feature roster including On Swift Horses, Daniel Minahan’s adaptation of Shannon Pufahl’s novel set in the 1950’s American West starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi and Will Poulter...

Nach seiner Weltpremiere in Cannes wird Francis Ford Coppolas „Megalopolis“ auf dem Toronto International Film Festival seine Nordamerikapremiere feiern.

Francis Ford Coppolas „Megalopolis“ feiert in Toronto seine Weltpremiere (Credit: Festival de Cannes / Le Pacte)

Das Toronto International Film Festival hat 20 weitere Titel zum Lineup für seine vom 5. bis 15. September stattfindende Ausgabe hinzugefügt.

So wird Francis Ford Coppolas “Megalopolis“ nach seiner Weltpremiere in Cannes in der Gala-Sektion in Toronto seine Nordamerikapremiere feiern. Ebenfalls zum Lineup, das insgesamt 276 Filme umfasst, hinzugefügt wurden u.a. Luca Guadagninos „Queer“, Pedro Almodovars „The Room Next Door“ sowie Damian Chazelles „Whiplash“.

Die neu zum Toronto-Lineup hinzugefügten Titel im Überblick:

Gala

• “Megalopolis”

• “William Tell”

Special Presentations

• “Babygirl

• “Dahomey”

• “Hold Your Breath”

• “On Swift Horses”

• “Paul Anka: His Way”

• “Queer”

• “Shell”

• “The Brutalist”

• “The Luckiest Man in America”

• “The Room Next Door”

• “The Salt Path”

• “Vermiglio”

Discovery

• “Village Keeper”

• “You Are Not Alone”

Centrepiece

• “Bliss (Hemda)”

Special Events...

Deadline has just unveiled that the Toronto International Film Festival has added twenty more titles to their schedule, which brings their lineup of official selections to a total of 278 films. One of the bigger titles to be added is Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, which depicts the evening of October 11, 1975, when “a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. It is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live.”

Another big feature that will be screened is the already-divisive but anticipated new film from Hollywood legend Francis Ford Coppola — Megalopolis. This will be the film’s North American premiere after its debut in Cannes already gave the movie the kind of buzz that people had expected to come from a mind as mad as Coppola’s. The film would...

Jacob Elordi is pulling double duty at TIFF 2024 with two period pieces, but only one steamy love triangle.

Elordi stars in both “Oh, Canada” and “On Swift Horses,” the latter of which just debuted its long-awaited first look. “On Swift Horses” also stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Diego Calva, Will Poulter, and Sasha Calle. The film is directed by “Game Of Thrones,” “House of Cards,” and “Six Feet Under” helmer Daniel Minahan, and will make its world premiere at TIFF 2024 as a sales title.

“On Swift Horses” is based on the novel by Shannon Pufahl, and centers on newlyweds Muriel and Lee who are beginning a new life when he returns from the Korean War. Per the novel description, the couple’s stability is upended by the arrival of Lee’s charismatic younger brother, Julius, who is a wayward gambler with a secret. A dangerous love triangle is quickly formed, as the...

And the films just keeping on coming as the 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival has announced 20 movies to its official selection, taking its count to 278 titles.

Chief among them is Jason Reitman’s SNL opening-night pic Saturday Night, from Sony which will get its Canadian premiere in the filmmaker’s homeland. With that deduction, this must mean Saturday Night is going to Telluride.

And you thought Harry Styles was big at TIFF two years ago? Well, here comes Jacob Elordi with Daisy Edgar-Jones in On Swift Horses. The pic also stars Diego Calva. The Daniel Minahan-directed movie follows a woman and her husband who are about to begin a bright new life, which is upended by the arrival of his brother. She embarks on a secret life, gambling on racehorses and discovering a love she never thought possible.

Also, getting their North American premieres are Francis Ford Coppola...

Francis Ford Coppola’s divisive sci-fi epic “Megalopolis” will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

TIFF has added that movie and several others, including Luca Guadadgnino’s “Queer” starring Daniel Craig and Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door” led by Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, to its 2024 lineup. In total, 276 films will screen at this year’s festival, which is running from Sept. 5-15.

In addition to official selection titles, TIFF has programmed special screenings of Damien Chazelle’s 2014 film “Whiplash,” as well as Mina Shum’s 1994 comedy “Double Happiness.”

As previously announced, director David Gordon Green’s “Nutcrackers,” starring Ben Stiller, will open the festival while Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut “The Deb” will close the 49th edition. Other movies already on the schedule include Ron Howard’s survival thriller “Eden,” Marielle Heller’s horror comedy “Nightbitch” with Amy Adams, the animated “The Wild Robot...

The full programming lineup for TIFF 2024 has finally been unveiled, with 20 additional titles now included in the Official Selection.

Added to the Gala films for this year’s 49th edition of the festival are Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and the world premiere of “William Tell,” starring Claes Bang, Connor Swindells, Jonathan Pryce, Ben Kingsley, and Jonah Hauer-King. “William Tell” is directed by the BAFTA-winning producer and director Nick Hamm; the film takes place in medieval Europe amid the Austrian Empire’s invasion of Switzerland.

The world premieres slate now also includes Daniel Minahan’s highly-anticipated queer love triangle “On Swift Horses” with Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Diego Calva, as well as Max Minghella’s “Shell.” The all-star cast for “Shell” includes Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson, and Kaia Gerber.

Buzzy lineup additions also include the North American premieres of Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl,” starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson,...

World premieres of hot sales titles including Nick Hamm’s English-language feature William Tell starring Claes Bang and theatre director Marianne Elliott’s debut The Salt Path with Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs are among 20 additions to Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) official selection.

The new arrivals announced on Tuesday bring the total number of films on offer to 278 at the 49th edition of the festival running September 5-15. The entire schedule is now available on the festival’s website.

There are also world premieres in Galas and Special Presentations for Leyline, FirstGen and Peter Spears’ drama On Swift Horses...

“Babylon” breakout star Diego Calva is returning to his film roots for Mexican feature “City of Dreams.”

The drama, which is inspired by true events, follows young boy Jesús, whose dreams of becoming a soccer star are shattered when he’s trafficked across the border and sold to a sweatshop making fast fashion in downtown Los Angeles.

The official synopsis reads: “Thrust into a world of exploitation and despair, he’s forced to adhere to the grueling work schedule dictated by El Jefe, a boss who promises freedom for those who complete their quotas. Despite Jesus’s hellish existence, he finds solace in Elena, a girl who was similarly betrayed and sold into slavery. When she goes missing and another co-worker Carlito’s is severely beaten, Jesus realizes that his only hope for freedom is to make a daring escape.”

The film is written and directed by Mohit Ramchandani; Jason Patric,...

Daisy Edgar-Jones has twisted out of the upcoming Carole King biopic.

After previously being announced as cast in the lead role in 2022, “Twisters” star Edgar-Jones told Variety that she is “no longer” set to portray singer/songwriter King onscreen.

“That’s no longer happening,” Edgar-Jones said. “I love Carole and I love that story, but it was a year ago that they decided [to no longer pursue it].”

“I did learn a lot of piano. I think it’s a gorgeous story, and the script probably needs a little more time in the oven. But I did meet Carole King on Zoom, and I was like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever,'” she added. “She really enjoyed ‘Normal People,’ so she was a fan of that and I was a fan of hers. I get so starstruck by musicians, much more than actors, and Carole was one where it was quite hard to keep my cool.

Exclusive: Diego Calva has been cast as a lead in the BBC & Prime Video series The Night Manager for Season 2. He joins previously announced stars Tom Hiddleston and Camila Morrone.

Inspired by the characters in John le Carré’s best-selling novel, the upcoming second season of The Night Manager will once again be written by show creator David Farr and Season 2 will be helmed by BAFTA-winning director Georgi Banks-Davies. Details regarding who Calva will portray and the season’s plot are under wraps.

Season 1 premiered in 2016 to much fanfare. Led by Hiddleston alongside Hugh Laurie, The Night Manager was watched by millions and won multiple BAFTAs, Emmys and Golden Globes including Best Actor for Hiddleston. Also starring Tom Hollander, Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debicki, it followed Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston) – who ran a luxury hotel in Cairo – as he attempted...

Exclusive: Oscar winning Nomadland producer Peter Spears has optioned Mike Nichols: A Life, the 2021 biography of the director by Mark Harris, for development as a dramatic feature film.

The planned adaptation of the book, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, will not be a cradle-to-grave biography but will focus on a young Nichols as he journeys from Broadway to Hollywood to make his first film, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), depicting his high-stakes collaboration with the film’s two married stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Spears will develop the film for his production company, Cor Cordium. His other producing credits include the Oscar-winning Call Me by Your Name (2017), Bones and All (2022), and On Swift Horses, with Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Diego Calva, and Will Poulter, which will open later this year. Harris is also the author of Pictures at a Revolution (2008) and the World War II filmmaking history...

Exclusive: Wavelength, the award-winning film and branded content studio of Jenifer Westphal and Joe Plummer, has inked an exclusive first-look deal with Steve Zahn, Rick Gomez, and Coby Toland’s banner, Macaroni Art Productions.

Formalizing a creative partnership between the two companies for scripted and non-scripted projects, the deal follows their collaborations on the short documentaries How To Paint a Peace Sign and Lynn’s Fire. Under it, Wavelength will of course receive a first look at all projects generated by Macaroni Art. Already, the companies are developing a sports-focused docuseries, along with a couple of narrative projects.

“We are thrilled to partner with Macaroni Art Productions,” said Wavelength’s Founder, CEO, and Executive Producer, Westphal. “When I first met Steve and Rick it was a true meeting of the minds. Not only do they exemplify how we like to work at Wavelength but they do the work with full commitment,...

Oscar winner Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to “Promising Young Woman” looks to be putting a fresh new twist on “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Fennell’s sophomore feature “Saltburn” stars Barry Keoghan as an Oxford University student who becomes enamored with his charismatic classmate, portrayed by Jacob Elordi. Fennell writes, directs, and produces, along with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment with Josey McNamara and Tom Ackerley. Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan, and Alison Oliver also star in the film, which is set in 2006.

The Amazon, MGM, and MRC release is teased as a “a wicked tale of privilege and desire,” with the official synopsis reading: “Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.

Colin Tilley, the acclaimed director of music videos for Cardi B, Justin Bieber, and Nicki Minaj, will make his feature debut with “Somewhere in Dreamland.”

Production recently wrapped on the project, which stars Whitney Peak, from “Gossip Girl” and “Hocus Pocus 2,” as well as S. Epatha Merkerson (“Law & Order”), Golda Rosheuvel (“Bridgerton”), Finn Bennett (“True Detective”) and newcomer Laken Giles. Elisa Victoria penned the original graphic novel and the screenplay with Michael Tully.

The horror film follows Anna (Peak), who is grieving the sudden death of her parents when she relocates from New York to a small Florida town to live with the grandmother (Merkerson) she’s never met. Isolated, she falls in with some other teens, but when she becomes a bystander to a shocking act of violence, she finds herself ensnared by Mr. Sandman, who haunts bullies’ dreams before feasting on their eyeballs when they wake up.

Exclusive: Normal People and Where the Crawdads Sing star Daisy Edgar-Jones is the latest star attached to Oscar winner Ron Howard’s next movie Origin of Species, which is a hot project at the Cannes Market.

The in-demand Jones is in talks to join the buzzy project which — as we told you Sunday — already has Oscar nominee Ana De Armas (No Time to Die), Oscar nominee Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) and Golden Globe nominee Daniel Brühl (All Quiet on the Western Front) attached and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider) in talks to join. There are likely more good names to come.

Howard’s Imagine Entertainment is behind the movie with Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios financing and selling with CAA Media Finance on the Riviera.

Related: Cannes Film Festival Full Coverage

Shoot is being lined up for Q4 2023 in Queensland, Australia. Script comes from Noah Pink (Tetris) and producers...

Matthew McConaughey is set to star in “The Rivals of Amziah King,” a crime thriller that takes place in rural Oklahoma.

Black Bear Pictures, which backed “I Care a Lot” and “The Imitation Game,” is fully financing the film. Black Bear International will launch international sales in Cannes, with WME Independent representing the U.S rights.

Andrew Patterson (“The Vast of Night”) is writing and directing “The Rivals of Amziah King.” Plot details are being kept under wraps, but a press release describes the film as a “deeply atmospheric, character-focused crime thriller set against the unique backdrop of remote Oklahoma.” McConaughey will star in the titular role of Amziah King.

“Black Bear is thrilled to partner with our friends at Heyday in supporting the bold creation that will be ‘The Rivals of Amziah King,'” Black Bear’s Teddy Schwarzman said. “Andrew Patterson’s visionary filmmaking and Matthew McConaughey’s...

Matthew McConaughey is set to star in The Rivals of Amziah King, a crime thriller written and directed by The Vast of Night helmer Andrew Patterson.

Black Bear Pictures and Heyday Films are producing the upcoming feature, with Black Bear International kicking off international pre-sales at the Cannes film market next week. WME Independent is handling U.S. rights.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but McConaughey will play the title role of Amziah King in the feature, which is set in the remote areas of Oklahoma. David Heyman (Gravity, the Harry Potter franchise) will produce through his Heyday Films, together with Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler from Black Bear. Executive producers include Heyday’s Rob Silva, and Black Bear’s John Friedberg and Christopher Casanova.

Amziah King will be Patterson’s follow-up to his well-received feature debut. The Vast of Night premiered at the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival and...