TIFF, ‘Disenchantment’, and Woody Allen
The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival
After trimming its selection by 20% for 2017, TIFF made sure only the best made the cut for its 42nd year. Released today, the lineup proved Toronto has become a truly unmissable event for film lovers.
Darren Aronofsky’s horror film Mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and George Clooney’s Suburbicon will both hold world premieres at the festival.
Other highly anticipated screenings include Battle of the Sexes starring Emma Stone (La La Land) & Steve Carell (Foxcatcher) and I, Tonya in which Margot Robbie (Focus) plays disgraced ice skater Tonya Harding.
There are two directorial debuts to get excited about: Andy Serkis’ Breathe, featuring Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) and Claire Foy (The Crown), will have its world premiere, and Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, starring Saoirse Ronan (Atonement), appears as a special presentation.
Outside of film festival mania
Matt Groening (The Simpsons) will bring a twisted fairytale to Netflix in new animated series Disenchantment, portraying the misadventures of a feisty princess in a “world full of suffering and idiots”. Sounds familiar.
British broadcaster ITV reported a drop in advertising revenue and lower earnings, months before new CEO Carolyn McCall (formerly of Easyjet) will take the reins.
Surprising precisely no one, Wonder Woman 2 has been announced. After November’s Justice League, Gal Gadot (Fast Five) will be back on our screens in December 2019, with director Patty Jenkins (Monster) in talks to join her.
Season 7 of American Horror Story asked fans to join its “cult”, via an online interactive journey, and find clues about the anthology’s next theme. Steer clear if you don’t like clowns.
Leonardo DiCaprio (Gangs of New York) has donned his producer hat to develop a scripted adaptation of The Wright Stuff, a novel about early aircraft testing in the US space program, with National Geographic.
Foreign film fans will be pleased (or outraged) to learn Spanish thriller The Fury of a Patient Man is to get an English-language remake with Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) at the helm.
Who has written more cinematic love letters to New York than Woody Allen? Nobody. So it’s only natural his next film, 1950s drama Wonder Wheel starring Kate Winslet (The Reader), is to close NY Film Fest.
