While the Toronto International Film Festival offered a great chance for movie fans to get their fill of film, there was still business to be done – and done it was.
More than 30 films were acquired during the 10-day festival, most notably the sexually explicit Shame and the genre hit the Raid, which each sold early in the fest.
“It’s good to see that the Festival has once again provided a solid foundation to facilitate film sales,” TIFF’s Cameron Bailey said.
“Our organization exists to bring films to audiences around the world, and we could not be more delighted to report that these outstanding films will reach film lovers in all corners of the globe.”
Top TIFF sales:
- Shame: Just one day into the festival, Fox Searchlight announced its acquisition of Steve McQueen’s controversial Shame, starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan about a man dealing with sexual addiction. The film is expected to be released with an NC-17 rating.
- Your Sister’s Sister: Lynn Shelton’s Humpday followup, starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mark Duplass, delighted audiences during its world premiere at the festival, and within days of the premiere the film was acquired by IFC. No release date has been set yet.
- Salmon Fishing in Yemen: Emily Blunt had multiple reasons to celebrate, as another of her title’s in the fest in which she stars, Lasse Halstrom’s adaptation of Paul Torday’s novel, sold to CBS Films. The deal for the film was one of the first during the festival.
- The Raid: Gareth Evans’ action-packed The Raid became an early fan favourite at the festival and quickly picked up distribution from Sony, with Alliance set to release the film in Canada. Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda is reportedly preparing to create an all-new score for the film’s theatrical release.
- Wuthering Heights: After making a big splash at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month, Andrea Arnold’s modern update on the Emily Bronte classic found a home with Oscilloscope Laboratories, which has a strong buying track record thanks for this year’s Bellflower and We Need to Talk About Kevin, which also screened at TIFF.
