The number of memorable world premieres from the Toronto International Film Festival post-pandemic could fit comfortably on two hands. “The Fabelmans.” “The Woman King.” “American Fiction.” “Sing Sing.” “His Three Daughters.” “Hitman.” “Hard Truths.” “The Wild Robot.” For the most part, considering its enormous scope, TIFF has become an acquisition festival and “best of” Venice, Cannes, and Telluride, and there is nothing wrong with that. Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, it appears the 2025 installment may have more anticipated world premieres than ever, with “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” “Roofman,” Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” and “Rental Family” among the prestigious lineup.
READ MORE: ‘John Candy: I Like Me’ Doc From Colin Hanks & Ryan Reynolds To Open TIFF 50th Edition
This morning, TIFF revealed six new world premieres, which are tantalizing. They nclude Rian Johnson’s third and seemingly final “Knives Out” film, ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ starring Daniel Craig alongside a new ensemble that includes Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, and more; Academy Award-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) returns with “Hamnet,” a fictional William Shakespeare drama starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and Joe Alwyn; plus Derek Cianfrance’s “Roofman” starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst, which screened an extended preview at CinemaCon in April.
Additionally, “Beef” director Hikari’s second feature, “Rental Family,” starring Brendan Fraser (his actual follow-up to “The Whale”) will premiere alongside Paul Greengrass’ “The Lost Bus” featuring Matthew McConaughey in his second legit leading role since 2019 (the other film is “The Rivals of Amziah King” which debuted at SXSW which is still looking for U.S. distribution). America Ferrera co-stars in the Apple Studios release. Lastly, Sony Pictures Classics’ Nicholas Hytner title “The Choral” will make its world premiere, and it stars Ralph Fiennes.
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” will premiere December 12 on Netflix, “Roofman” is currently scheduled for a wide release on October 10, and “Rental Family” is set for a November 21 release (just in time for Thanksgiving). “The Lost Bus” will have a token “Blitz”-like release sometime this fall to qualify for Oscars, and Zhao’s “Hamnet” and “The Choral” will also likely arrive sometime this fall.
Previously, TIFF revealed that Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda,” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Christophers,” Alejandro Amenábar’s “The Captive,” Sung-hyun Byun’s “Good News,” and Chandler Levack’s “Mile End Kicks” would be world premieres at the festival.
The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival will occur from September 4 to 14.
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
