After years of informal deal-making, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has unveiled its official market, TIFF: The Market, a dedicated platform operating from September 10-16. While modest in its inaugural ambitions, market boss Charles Tremblay emphasizes that Toronto is not looking to directly rival established events like the AFM or MIPCOM, instead focusing on an experimental approach to serve a broad spectrum of industry needs.

This year's market is a testing ground, featuring projects at various production stages and with diverse financing and distribution strategies. From international masters like Werner Herzog and Malgorzata Szumowska to actors turning filmmakers such as Courteney Cox and Tim Blake Nelson, and even blockbuster directors dabbling in indie fare, the market is a melting pot of creativity. The timing couldn't be better, riding on the momentum of last year's record-breaking $15 million sale of Curry Barker’s Obsession, signaling a hungry industry eager for recovery and original ideas.

Christian Mercuri of Capstone Studios, who brokered the Obsession deal, notes, “It’s a tough market, but there’s a lot of opportunity if you’re doing original ideas that push the envelope a little bit and take risks.” This sentiment underpins the diverse and buzzy slate of projects making their way to TIFF: The Market:

Featured Highlights

  • **Werner Herzog's BUCKING FASTARD**: The legendary filmmaker returns with a project starring Rooney Mara, Kate Mara, Orlando Bloom, and Domhnall Gleeson. The Mara sisters play siblings with a deep, eerie connection, embarking on a quest to dig a tunnel through a mountain range in search of an imaginary land. HanWay Films handles sales.
  • **Zack Snyder's THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH**: Known for his blockbuster epics like 300 and Justice League, Snyder presents a decades-in-the-making passion project. This indie action flick follows an ex-DEA agent seeking revenge in a South American jungle. Its world premiere at TIFF will be a crucial test for Snyder in the international indie market, with CAA managing sales.
  • **Tom Hanks in LINCOLN IN THE BARDO**: One of the most ambitious undertakings at TIFF, this stop-motion/live-action hybrid is directed by Duke Johnson. Adapting George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning novel, the film sees Hanks as Abraham Lincoln mourning his deceased son, with an A-list voice cast including Willem Dafoe, Jonathan Bailey, and Peter Dinklage meditating on grief and empathy. CAA Media Finance/WME Independent are handling sales.

Other Noteworthy Projects

  • **Courteney Cox's EVIL GENIUS**: The actress's second directorial effort is a finished true-crime dramedy based on the infamous “pizza bomber” case. Fully financed but without a sales company, Cox hopes to secure a domestic sale after a gala bow, akin to Steven Soderbergh's strategy with The Christophers last year.
  • **Miles Teller and Jason Momoa in COPPERHEAD**: A star-studded action thriller directed by John Swab, following a veteran detective forced to collaborate with a young federal agent to uncover a conspiracy within their own task force after a drug deal goes awry. Black Bear, CAA, and WME are handling sales.
  • **Taron Egerton in EVERYBODY WANTS TO FCK ME***: A high-concept commercial thriller from Jonathan Schey, where Egerton plays a self-styled feminist and secret serial womanizer whose one-night stand leaves him catastrophically irresistible. StudioCanal is handling sales.
  • **Michelle Yeoh in THE SURGEON**: From oncologist-turned-filmmaker Roshan Sethi, this action project was a strong pre-seller in Cannes. Yeoh stars as a gifted doctor compelled at gunpoint to perform surgery on a gangster. 193 and WME are managing sales.
  • **Tim Blake Nelson's THE LIVES AND DEATHS OF WILSON SHEDD**: Nelson writes, directs, and co-stars in this prestige drama based on actual events, featuring Amanda Seyfried and Scoot McNairy. The film follows an English teacher who falls for a charismatic inmate while leading creative writing classes in a maximum-security prison. WestEnd Films/WME/V42/D Squared Films are handling sales.

This diverse lineup underscores TIFF: The Market's commitment to showcasing original content and providing a crucial platform for deal-making in an evolving global film landscape.