New Films Starring Jamie Foxx, Anna Kendrick and Al Pacino to Debut at 2023 Toronto International Film Festival
By: Henry Chandonnet (People)
New Films Starring Jamie Foxx, Anna Kendrick and Al Pacino to Debut at 2023 Toronto International Film Festival
14 Gala program titles and 46 Special Presentations will be screened at the festival, set for Sept. 7-17
Jamie Foxx, Anna Kendrick and Al Pacino. PHOTO: FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES; DANIEL BOCZARSKI/VARIETY VIA GETTY IMAGES; DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES
Jamie Foxx , Anna Kendrick , Al Pacino and more are headlining this year’s Toronto International Film Festival .
The 48th edition of the festival returns live Sept. 7-17, featuring 14 Gala program titles and 46 Special Presentations. The festival will return in full force, even amidst the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes .
Jamie Foxx. photo KEVIN WINTER/GETTY
"This year’s Galas & Special Presentations showcase a rich tapestry of talent, vision, and storytelling,” said Cameron Bailey, TIFF CEO, in a statement. “From thought-provoking narratives to breathtaking visuals and stories so unreal they have to be real, each work embodies the power of cinema to inspire, challenge, and move audiences. Get ready to experience an unforgettable celebration of film and a memorable and star-studded festival, showcasing the best of global cinema for film lovers in September."
Foxx, 55, will star in Maggie Betts’ legal drama The Burial alongside Tommy Lee Jones and Jurnee Smollett . The film follows the real-life story of Jeremiah Joseph O'Keefe's lawsuit against the Loewen Group, a Canadian funeral home company, as documented by the New Yorker .
One of Foxx’s first projects to premiere since his April health scare , The Burial marks Foxx’s return to the screen.
Making her directorial debut, Kendrick, 37, will premiere her drama Woman of the Hour . Telling the true story of Rodney Alcala , the film follows the serial killer who appeared on The Dating Game in the midst of his spree. Kendrick will also star in the film as contestant Cheryl Bradshaw.
Anna Kendrick. photo GARY MILLER/WIREIMAGE
Back in September, when Kendrick was first announced to work on Woman of the Hour (then titled The Dating Game ), she spoke to PEOPLE about the opportunity, calling the film “so meant to be.”
"But it's such a dream," Kendrick said, joking, "Right now, my house has sort of turned into a Beautiful Mind -style collage of sticky notes and inspirations and photographs and stuff. It looks like I'm trying to solve my daughter's kidnapping or something."
Meanwhile, actor Michael Keaton will also make his directorial debut with his film Knox Goes Away , starring Pacino, 83. A crime thriller, the film follows a contract killer diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia. Marcia Gay Harden and James Marsden join Pacino for the project.
Al Pacino. photo GABRIEL OLSEN/GETTY
Also featured in the lineup is the world premiere of Taika Waititi ’s sports comedy Next Goal Wins , as well as Ellen Kuras’ war journalism film Lee , starring Alexander Skarsgård and Kate Winslet .
A full lineup can be found on the TIFF website .
The Toronto Film Festival kicks off Sept. 7.
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If I were back in Toronto in September, you would be able to find me there.
I've always wanted to go.
I wasn't into the movies back when I was there as I became when I moved here, so although I knew about it I wasn't into attending it.
I first noticed Anna Kendrick in The Accountant, and I've liked her ever since. I hope her directorial debut is successful.
There is a potential The Accountant 2 in the works. The deal was inked in 2021 and a script was in the works before the WGA strike. I don't think we'd see Kendrick in it, but it would be fun if we did.
Kendrick was great in Mr Right too.
Never saw that one, but since watching her in The Accountant I've seen her in Up In the Air with George Clooney and a movie I couldn't get into and didn't watch the whole thing in which she was pregnant. I thought The Accountant was a great movie and I'd love to see a movie picking up where that one ended. There was no finality to the ending, he wasn't caught and I imagined that a continuation might start with his meeting his brother Braxton somewhere.