Toronto International Film Festival sets lineup with Sydney Sweeney, Aziz Ansari and 'Knives Out 3'
Films starring Sydney Sweeney, Angelina Jolie and Aziz Ansari will premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, festival organizers have announced.
TIFF laid out the selections to its galas and special presentations programs, which make up the bulk of the red carpet premieres to North America's largest film festival. Films making their world premieres include Ansari's 'Good Fortune,' starring Keanu Reeves as an angel trying to teach a struggling man (Ansari) a lesson; David Michôd's 'Christy,' with Sweeney playing the boxer Christy Martin; and Alice Winocour's 'Couture,' starring Jolie as an American filmmaker attending Paris Fashion Week.
Those films join previously announced TIFF world premieres including Rian Johnson's 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery." All three of Johnson's 'Knives Out' films have premiered in Toronto.
Also debuting in Toronto will be Derek Cianfrance's 'Roofman,' starring Channing Tatum as a struggling father turned thief; Nia DaCosta's Ibsen adaptation 'Hedda,' starring Tessa Thompson; Nicholas Hytner's WWI drama 'The Choral,' with Ralph Fiennes; Steven Soderbergh's third 2025 release, 'The Christophers'; Hikari's 'Rental Family,' starring Brendan Fraser as an American actor in Japan; and Paul Greengrass' 'The Lost Bus,' with Matthew McConaughey as a bus driver navigating California's 2018 Camp Fire.
The Toronto International Film Festival will kick off Sept. 4 with the debut of the documentary 'John Candy: I Like Me,' from director Colin Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds. The festival runs through Sept. 14.
Toronto has long been one of the prized launching pads to the fall movie season, though many of the top films often first go to the Venice or Telluride film festivals. This year, that includes TIFF selections like Chloe Zhao's 'Hamnet,' Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein,' Benny Safdie's 'The Smashing Machine' and Edward Berger's 'Ballad of a Smaller Player.' The designation of those premieres suggests 'Frankenstein' and 'The Smashing Machine' will first play Venice, while Zhao's and Berger's films will likely play both Venice and Telluride.
Other notable films premiering in Toronto include James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg trials drama 'Nuremberg,' with Rami Malik and Russell Crowe; Rachel Lee Goldenberg's 'Swiped,' starring Lily James as Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd; and Agnieszka Holland's Franz Kafka drama 'Franz."
Several directorial debuts will be landing in Toronto including those by Brian Cox ('Glenrothan') and Maude Apatow ("Poetic License"). Other selections include 'Bad Apples,' with Saoirse Ronan as a teacher with a poorly behaved student; 'Easy's Waltz," a Las Vegas-set drama starring Vince Vaughn and Al Pacino; and Alex Winter's 'Adulthood.'
A number of standouts from May's Cannes Film Festival will also play in Toronto, such as Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or winner 'It Was Just an Accident,' Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value,' Oliver Laxe's 'Sirât' and Richard Linklater's 'Nouvelle Vague.'
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
43 minutes ago
- Japan Today
Singer Cleo Laine, regarded as Britain's greatest jazz voice, dies at 97
File - Cleo Laine performs at the Jazz at Lincoln Center concert, "Here's to the Ladies: a Celebration of Great Women in Jazz," in New York, Nov. 17, 2003. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff, File) By ROBERT BARR Cleo Laine, whose husky contralto was one of the most distinctive voices in jazz and who was regarded by many as Britain's greatest contribution to the quintessentially American music, has died. She was 97. The Stables, a charity and venue Laine founded with her late jazz musician husband John Dankworth, said Friday it was 'greatly saddened' by the news that 'one of its founders and Life President, Dame Cleo Laine has passed away." Monica Ferguson, artistic director of The Stables, said Laine "will be greatly missed, but her unique talent will always be remembered.' Laine's career spanned the Atlantic and crossed genres: She sang the songs of Kurt Weill, Arnold Schoenberg and Robert Schumann; she acted on stage and on film, and even played God in a production of Benjamin Britten's "Noye's Fludde." Laine's life and art were intimately bound up with band leader Dankworth, who gave her a job and her stage name in 1951, and married her seven years later. Both were still performing after their 80th birthdays. Dankworth died in 2010 at 82. In 1997, Laine became the first British jazz artist to be made a dame, the female equivalent of a knight. "It is British jazz that should have received the accolade for its service to me," she said when the honor was announced. "It has given me a wonderful life, a successful career and an opportunity to travel the globe doing what I love to do." Laine was born Clementina Dinah Campbell in 1927. Her father, Alexander Campbell, was a Jamaican who loved opera and earned money during the Depression as a street singer. Despite hard times, her British mother, Minnie, made sure that her daughter had piano, voice and dance lessons. She began performing at local events at age 3, and at age 12 she got a role as a movie extra in "The Thief of Bagdad." Leaving school at 14, Laine went to work as a hairdresser and faced repeated rejection in her efforts to get a job as a singer. A decade later, in 1951, she tried out for the Johnny Dankworth Seven, and succeeded. "Clementina Campbell" was judged too long for a marquee, so she became Cleo Laine. "John said that when he heard me, I didn't sound like anyone else who was singing at the time," Laine once said. "I guess the reason I didn't get the other jobs is that they were looking for a singer who did sound like somebody else." Laine had a remarkable range, from tenor to contralto, and a sound often described as "smoky." Dankworth, in an interview with the Irish Independent, recalled Laine's audition. "They were all sitting there with stony faces, so I asked the Scottish trumpet player Jimmy Deuchar, who was looking very glum and was the hardest nut of all, whether he thought she had something. 'Something?' he said, 'She's got everything!'" Offered 6 pounds a week, Laine demanded — and got — 7 pounds. "They used to call me 'Scruff', although I don't think I was scruffy. It was just that having come from the sticks, I didn't know how to put things together as well as the other singers of the day," she told the Irish Independent. "And anyway, I didn't have the money, because they weren't paying me enough." Recognition came swiftly. Laine was runner-up in Melody Maker's "girl singer" category in 1952, and topped the list in 1956 and 1957. She married Dankworth — and quit his band — in 1958, a year after her divorce from her first husband, George Langridge. As Dankworth's band prospered, Laine began to feel underused. "I thought, no, I'm not going to just sit on the band and be a singer of songs every now and again when he fancied it. So it was then that I decided I wasn't going to stay with the band and I was going to go off and try to do something solo-wise," she said in a BBC documentary. "When I said I was leaving, he said, 'Will you marry me?' That was a good ploy, wasn't it, huh?" They were married on March 18, 1958. A son, Alec, was born in 1960, and daughter Jacqueline followed in 1963. Despite her happy marriage, Laine forged a career independent of Dankworth. "Whenever anybody starts putting a label on me, I say, 'Oh, no you don't,' and I go and do something different," Laine told The Associated Press in 1985 when she was appearing on stage in New York in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." Her stage career began in 1958 when she was invited to join the cast of a West Indian play, "Flesh to a Tiger," at the Royal Court Theatre, and was surprised to find herself in the lead role. She won a Moscow Arts Theatre Award for her performance. "Valmouth" followed in 1959, "The Seven Deadly Sins" in 1961, "The Trojan Women" in 1966 and "Hedda Gabler" in 1970. The role of Julie in Jerome Kern's "Show Boat" in 1971 provided Laine with a show-stopping song, "Bill." Laine began winning a following in the United States in 1972 with a concert at the Alice Tully Hall in New York. It wasn't well-attended, but The New York Times gave her a glowing review. The following year, she and Dankworth drew a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall, launching a series of popular appearances. "Cleo at Carnegie" won a Grammy award in 1986, the same year she was a Tony nominee for "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." A reviewer for Variety in 2002 found her voice going strong: "a dark, creamy voice, remarkable range and control from bottomless contralto to a sweet clear soprano. Her perfect pitch and phrasing is always framed with musical imagination and good taste." Perhaps Laine's most difficult performance of all was on Feb. 6, 2010, at a concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of the concert venue she and Dankworth had founded at their home, during which Laine and both of her children performed. "I'm terribly sorry that Sir John can't be here today," Laine told the crowd at the end of the show. 'But earlier on my husband died in hospital.' Laine said in an interview with the Boston Globe in 2003 that the secret of her longevity was that "I was never a complete belter." "There was always a protective side in me, and an inner voice always said, 'Don't do that — it's not good for you and your voice.'" Laine is survived by her son and daughter. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Mainichi
12 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Hulk Hogan, icon in professional wrestling, dies at age 71
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his influence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act, died Thursday in Florida at age 71. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital less than 90 minutes after medics in Clearwater arrived at his home to answer a morning call about a cardiac arrest, police said. "There were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity," Maj. Nate Burnside told reporters. Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE's long history. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co-founder Vince McMahon. But outside the the ring, Hogan also found trouble. WWE in 2015 cut ties with him for three years, even removing him from its Hall of Fame, after it was reported that he was recorded using racial slurs about Blacks. He apologized and said his words were "unacceptable." Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and millions of fans have watched the company's weekly live television program, "Raw," which debuted in January on Netflix. "He was a trailblazer, the first performer who transitioned from being a wrestling star into a global phenomenon," McMahon said of Hogan. Hogan's own brand of passion "Hulkamania," as the energy he created was called, started running wild in the mid-1980s and pushed professional wrestling into the mainstream. He was a flag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, red and yellow gear and massive arms he called his "24-inch pythons." Crowds were hysterical when he ripped off his T-shirt in the ring -- a trademark move -- revealing a tan, sculpted body. Hogan was also a celebrity outside the wrestling world, appearing in numerous movies and television shows, including a reality show about his life on VH1, "Hogan Knows Best." In recent years, Hogan added his celebrity to politics. At the 2024 Republican National Convention, he merged classic WWE maneuvers with then-candidate Donald Trump's rhetoric to passionately endorse him for president. "Let Trumpamania run wild brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!" Hogan shouted into the raucous crowd. He ripped off a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of himself on a motorcycle to reveal a bright red Trump-Vance campaign shirt underneath. Trump stood to applaud the move. "We lost a great friend today, the "Hulkster," Trump said Thursday on Truth Social. "Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way -- Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart." Hogan lately began to invest in alternatives to theatrical, professional wrestling, announcing plans in April to serve as the first commissioner for the Real American Freestyle organization, which describes itself as the "first unscripted pro wrestling" league in the world. The first event is Aug. 30 at Cleveland State University. "The idea was so exciting that I get a chance to be involved with all these young people and help guide them in any way, especially to make them huge stars and create a future for them," Hogan said. "People might be surprised, but wrestling is wrestling, brother." The league released a statement, saying it is now part of Hogan's legacy "and we intend to honor it." Broken leg and a new attitude Hogan was born in Georgia but lived much of his life in the Tampa, Florida, area. He recalled skipping school to watch wrestlers at the Sportatorium, a professional wrestling studio in Tampa. "I had been running my mouth, telling everybody I'm going to be a wrestler, and in a small town, the word gets out," Hogan told the Tampa Bay Times in 2021. "And so when I went down there, they were laying low for me. They exercised me till I was ready to faint." The result: a broken leg and a subsequent warning from his dad. "Don't you ever let anybody hurt you again," Hogan recalled his father saying. "So I went back four or five months later with a whole new attitude. The rest is history." Hogan first became champion in what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and pro wrestling took off from there. His popularity helped lead to the creation of the annual WrestleMania event in 1985, when he teamed up with Mr. T to beat "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in the main event. He slammed and beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. His feud with the late "Macho Man" Randy Savage -- perhaps his greatest rival -- carried pro wrestling even further. Hogan was a central figure in what is known as the Monday Night Wars. The WWE and World Championship Wrestling were battling for ratings supremacy in 1996. Hogan tilted things in WCW's favor with the birth of the Hollywood Hogan character and the formation of the New World Order, a villainous stable that put WCW ahead in the ratings. He returned to the WWE in 2002 and became a champion again. His match with The Rock at WrestleMania X8, a loss during which fans cheered for his "bad guy" character, was seen as a passing of the torch. Hogan was perhaps as well known for his larger-than-life personality as he was his in-ring exploits. He was beloved for his "promos" -- hype sessions he used to draw fans into matches. He often would play off his interviewer, "Mean" Gene Okerlund, starting his interviews off with, "Well, lemme tell ya something, Mean Gene!" Outside the ring He crossed over into movies and television as well. He was Thunderlips in the movie "Rocky III" in 1982. In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan $115 million in a lawsuit against Gawker Media and then added $25 million in punitive damages. Hogan sued after Gawker in 2012 obtained and posted video of him having sex with his former best friend's wife. He said the post violated his privacy. Hogan ended up settling the case for millions less after Gawker filed for bankruptcy. There was other fallout. The litigation led to the discovery that Hogan had used racial slurs on the tape. "It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it," Hogan said. After Hogan was booed at the premiere of Netflix's new WWE show in January, former WWE wrestler Mark Henry, who is Black, said that the scandal was a "dark cloud" over Hogan's career. Henry said he believes in second chances but that Hogan "never wanted to go forward and fix it." Outside Hogan's Hangout, his restaurant in Clearwater Beach, people talked about their admiration for Hogan as news of his death spread. Rich Null of St. Louis said the two men worked out together. "Thirty minutes into our workout in the gym, he said, 'cut the Hulk Hogan crap, call me Terry,'" Null said. "He was a really super nice guy, and we're gonna miss him."
Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Hulk Hogan, Icon in Professional Wrestling, Dies at Age 71
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his influence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act, died Thursday in Florida at age 71. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital less than 90 minutes after medics in Clearwater arrived at his home to answer a morning call about a cardiac arrest, police said. 'There were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity,' Maj. Nate Burnside told reporters. Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE's long history. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co-founder Vince McMahon. But outside the the ring, Hogan also found trouble. WWE in 2015 cut ties with him for three years, even removing him from its Hall of Fame, after it was reported that he was recorded using racial slurs about Blacks. He apologized and said his words were 'unacceptable.' Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and millions of fans have watched the company's weekly live television program, 'Raw,' which debuted in January on Netflix. 'He was a trailblazer, the first performer who transitioned from being a wrestling star into a global phenomenon,' McMahon said of Hogan. Hogan's own brand of passion 'Hulkamania,' as the energy he created was called, started running wild in the mid-1980s and pushed professional wrestling into the mainstream. He was a flag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, red and yellow gear and massive arms he called his '24-inch pythons.' Crowds were hysterical when he ripped off his T-shirt in the ring — a trademark move — revealing a tan, sculpted body. Hogan was also a celebrity outside the wrestling world, appearing in numerous movies and television shows, including a reality show about his life on VH1, 'Hogan Knows Best.' In recent years, Hogan added his celebrity to politics. At the 2024 Republican National Convention, he merged classic WWE maneuvers with then-candidate Donald Trump's rhetoric to passionately endorse him for president. 'Let Trumpamania run wild brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!' Hogan shouted into the raucous crowd. He ripped off a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of himself on a motorcycle to reveal a bright red Trump-Vance campaign shirt underneath. Trump stood to applaud the move. 'We lost a great friend today, the 'Hulkster,'' Trump said Thursday on Truth Social. 'Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.' Hogan lately began to invest in alternatives to theatrical, professional wrestling, announcing plans in April to serve as the first commissioner for the Real American Freestyle organization, which describes itself as the 'first unscripted pro wrestling' league in the world. The first event is Aug. 30 at Cleveland State University. 'The idea was so exciting that I get a chance to be involved with all these young people and help guide them in any way, especially to make them huge stars and create a future for them,' Hogan said. 'People might be surprised, but wrestling is wrestling, brother.' The league released a statement, saying it is now part of Hogan's legacy 'and we intend to honor it.' Broken leg and a new attitude Hogan was born in Georgia but lived much of his life in the Tampa, Florida, area. He recalled skipping school to watch wrestlers at the Sportatorium, a professional wrestling studio in Tampa. 'I had been running my mouth, telling everybody I'm going to be a wrestler, and in a small town, the word gets out,' Hogan told the Tampa Bay Times in 2021. 'And so when I went down there, they were laying low for me. They exercised me till I was ready to faint.' The result: a broken leg and a subsequent warning from his dad. 'Don't you ever let anybody hurt you again,' Hogan recalled his father saying. 'So I went back four or five months later with a whole new attitude. The rest is history.' Hogan first became champion in what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and pro wrestling took off from there. His popularity helped lead to the creation of the annual WrestleMania event in 1985, when he teamed up with Mr. T to beat 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper and 'Mr. Wonderful' Paul Orndorff in the main event. He slammed and beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. His feud with the late 'Macho Man' Randy Savage – perhaps his greatest rival — carried pro wrestling even further. Hogan was a central figure in what is known as the Monday Night Wars. The WWE and World Championship Wrestling were battling for ratings supremacy in 1996. Hogan tilted things in WCW's favor with the birth of the Hollywood Hogan character and the formation of the New World Order, a villainous stable that put WCW ahead in the ratings. He returned to the WWE in 2002 and became a champion again. His match with The Rock at WrestleMania X8, a loss during which fans cheered for his 'bad guy' character, was seen as a passing of the torch. Hogan was perhaps as well known for his larger-than-life personality as he was his in-ring exploits. He was beloved for his 'promos' — hype sessions he used to draw fans into matches. He often would play off his interviewer, 'Mean' Gene Okerlund, starting his interviews off with, 'Well, lemme tell ya something, Mean Gene!' Outside the ring He crossed over into movies and television as well. He was Thunderlips in the movie 'Rocky III' in 1982. In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan $115 million in a lawsuit against Gawker Media and then added $25 million in punitive damages. Hogan sued after Gawker in 2012 obtained and posted video of him having sex with his former best friend's wife. He said the post violated his privacy. Hogan ended up settling the case for millions less after Gawker filed for bankruptcy. There was other fallout. The litigation led to the discovery that Hogan had used racial slurs on the tape. 'It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it,' Hogan said. After Hogan was booed at the premiere of Netflix's new WWE show in January, former WWE wrestler Mark Henry, who is Black, said that the scandal was a 'dark cloud' over Hogan's career. Henry said he believes in second chances but that Hogan 'never wanted to go forward and fix it.' Outside Hogan's Hangout, his restaurant in Clearwater Beach, people talked about their admiration for Hogan as news of his death spread. Rich Null of St. Louis said the two men worked out together. 'Thirty minutes into our workout in the gym, he said, 'cut the Hulk Hogan crap, call me Terry,'' Null said. 'He was a really super nice guy, and we're gonna miss him.'
