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“Hot” is such a relative term when it comes to sales titles. There’s the movies with big stars that inexplicably don’t have a home, the breakouts that fetch bidding wars, and the auteur-driven indies that we just really want to see even if they’re not going to move the needle much at the box office. The lineups for TIFF, Venice, and eventually Telluride have all three types of films, especially this year.
Movies like “Prima Facie” with Cynthia Erivo maybe fall into the first category and sound like an awards hopeful for some emerging distributor looking to make a splash. “The Face of Horror” or Duncan Jones’ “Rogue Trooper” could fall into the second category, with everyone crossing their fingers for another “Obsession,” like last year. And frankly I just want a whole press tour of Werner Herzog pronouncing “Bucking Fastard” as soon as possible.
Last year, we had “Obsession” on our hot list, but never did we think it would be the most successful festival acquisition in history. We had some other smaller wins, championing movies like “Maddie’s Secret,” which has been an indie darling this year, and we rightly predicted that buyers like Black Bear and Row K could come calling for titles like “Christy” and “Dead Man’s Wire,” even if those didn’t live up to the hype.
We won’t be as bold as to predict where these 20 films could land this year, but we expect they’ll all be ones buyers will be seeking out or circling.
“Alpha Gang” (Telluride/TIFF)
Director: The Zellner Brothers
Stars: Dave Bautista, Leá Seydoux, Riley Keough, Lily-Rose Depp, Bae Doona, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine
Buzz: There should be a market for the always weird and creative Zellner Brothers, whose latest follows a group of aliens all decked out as a 1950s leather-clad biker gang who get sidetracked by human emotions and other weird wonders of Earth.
“The Basics of Philosophy”
Director: Paul Schrader
Stars: Jack Huston, Sofia Boutella, Bill Pullman
Buzz: Don’t let Paul Schrader’s recent fascination with AI deter you from checking out his latest entry that he says involves a continuation of a story he’s been working on since his “Taxi Driver” days. Schrader described it as a movie that “explores transgressive behavior and the architecture of conscience,” and Martin Scorsese is again involved as an executive producer.
“Bucking Fastard” (Venice Competition)
Director: Werner Herzog
Stars: Rooney Mara, Kate Mara, Orlando Bloom, Domhnall Gleeson
Buzz: We’ll see if Werner Herzog’s gambit to turn down a Cannes invitation for a competition slot at Venice pays off. The first clip from the film gives a fun tease at Rooney Mara and Kate Mara playing sisters on screen together for the first time in a very distinct way, but we’re hearing that this is perhaps Herzog’s most commercial title while still very much being in the German auteur’s wheelhouse.
“Company” (Venice Competition)
Director: Casey Affleck
Stars: Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Nick Nolte, Emily Alyn Lind
Buzz: A love triangle and an American Gothic with some other genre elements, the surprise to keep an eye out for is the young lead played by Casey Affleck’s son Atticus Affleck, who it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. “Company” has some big name producers on board with both Artists Equity, Spooky Pictures, and Image Nation, yet worldwide rights to the film are still available and hasn’t been pre-screened to keep it a surprise for the Biennale crowd.
“The Echo Chamber” (Venice Competition)
Director: Andrea Pallaoro
Stars: Alicia Vikander, Luca Marinelli, Susan Sarandon
Buzz: This elliptical romance has a script by none other than the late Italian auteur Bernardo Bertolucci, and the film after playing at Venice will screen as a market title to buyers at TIFF, so there will be many chances for buyers to catch up with this one.
“Everybody Wants to F*** Me” (TIFF Special Presentations)
Director: Jonathan Schey
Stars: Taron Egerton, Jessica Henwick, Mia McKenna Bruce
Buzz: Maybe it’s “Obsession” if it was a comedy? Studiocanal teased some footage for this one at CinemaCon, and it stars Egerton as a guy navigating the London dating scene who finds himself the target of affection for every young woman he comes across, which turns out to be more a curse than a blessing.
“Evil Genius” (TIFF Gala Presentations)
Director: Courteney Cox
Stars: Patricia Arquette, David Harbour
Buzz: Though there’s already intrigue at Courteney Cox returning to the director’s chair, “Evil Genius” should be catnip to the true crime crowd, as the story of the infamous “pizza bomber” was already adapted into a Netflix true crime documentary series. It follows a pizza delivery man who robbed a bank in Pennsylvania but then was killed when an explosive collar strapped to his neck detonated.
“The Face of Horror” (TIFF Midnight Madness)
Director: Anna Biller
Stars: Jonah Hauer-King, Kristine Frøseth, Ellie Bamber, Leo Suter, Ben Radcliffe, Bella Heathcote
Buzz: TIFF’s Midnight Madness slate is a little light on elevated horror this year that could lend itself to an “Obsession” level sale and leans a bit more into dark comedies, but this period Medieval ghost movie pays tribute to vintage Technicolor horror and all the gory goodness that should come with it.
“The Julia Set” (TIFF Special Presentations)
Director: Niki Byrne
Stars: Chase Infiniti, Jason Isaacs, Gillian Anderson, Christopher Briney
Buzz: This debut feature is the follow-up for Chase Infiniti to her breakout work in “One Battle After Another,” but it’s said to be a completely different turn for the young actress, meeker and more subdued as she plays a young math student trying to find her voice. Maybe some buyer will see it as a Gen-Z “Good Will Hunting.”
“The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd” (TIFF Gala Presentations)
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Scoot McNairy, Wunmi Mosaku
Buzz: This one has been screening early to press and though it’s a pretty heavy sit, it is a knockout, expertly directed by Tim Blake Nelson and with intense performances by Seyfried and McNairy. The film follows a woman in an abusive marriage who takes a teaching job inside a high security prison and tries to escape her own life when she falls in love with a convict via his in-class letters and assignments to her. The film is told through multiple perspectives and a non-linear timeline that makes the couple’s relationship far murkier and nuanced.
“Magazine” (TIFF Discovery)
Director: Alexandra Pechman
Stars: Lily McInerny, Joshuah Melnick
Buzz: This debut feature is a semi-autobiographical film about a young woman working as an intern at a literary magazine in New York who is vying for acceptance in the upper crust literary world. It’s a coming-of-age story but has some nostalgic throwback vibes to the early 2010s.
“Prima Facie” (TIFF Gala Presentations)
Director: Susanna White
Stars: Cynthia Erivo
Buzz: Adapting the one-woman stage show to the screen could be a challenge, and Jodie Comer was so closely tied with the role of a barrister who defends men accused of sexual assault, but Cynthia Erivo should be up to the task, and Susanna White, who directed “Our Kind of Traitor,” “Woman Walks Ahead,” and some episodes of “Andor” seems like a strong choice to make the material cinematic.
“Place to Be” (Venice Out of Competition)
Director: Kornél Mundruczó
Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi, Pamela Anderson, Murray Bartlett, David Wenham
Buzz: Mundruczó made a splash at Venice with his 2020 film “Pieces of a Woman,” and this one is a drama with an unusual cast and premise that’s a road trip movie in which a middle-aged man and elderly woman transport a racing pigeon back to its home.
“Rapinoe” (TIFF Docs)
Director: Rebecca Huntt
Stars: Megan Rapinoe
Buzz: There are a handful of biographical documentaries at this year’s TIFF looking for homes, but the most commercial of the bunch to us is the portrait of U.S. Women’s Soccer star Megan Rapinoe as it charts her growth from a champion athlete to outspoken activist and icon.
“Rogue Trooper” (TIFF Midnight Madness)
Director: Duncan Jones
Stars: Hayley Atwell, Jack Lowden, Matt Berry, Sean Bean, Jemaine Clement, Asa Butterfield
Buzz: “Moon” filmmaker Duncan Jones hasn’t directed a movie since 2018, but he’s spent years tinkering with the visual style and CG animation of “Rogue Trooper.” The film combines Unreal Engine with motion capture and other hand-refined effects to give it a distinct look that has supposedly wrapped production as far back as 2023. The film is based on the science fiction comic series dating back decades called “2000 AD.”
“The Surgeon” (TIFF Centrepiece)
Director: Roshan Sethi
Stars: Michelle Yeoh, Martin Freeman, Laurie Davidson, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Joseph Mydell
Buzz: This action film and thriller is a big departure from director Roshan Sethi’s prior film, the feel-good comedy “A Nice Indian Boy.” But Michelle Yeoh leads the cast of what could be her stab at becoming the next John Wick, in which she plays a former surgeon who is kidnapped and given an impossible choice.
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