Connect with us

Film Festivals

TIFF 2018: ‘Outlaw King’ To Open Festival, ‘Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy’ To Close

The TIFF 2018 opening film and closing film have been announced. The Toronto International Film Festival begins in just three weeks and organisers have announced that David McKenzie (Hell Or High Water, Starred Up) will open proceedings with his new film Outlaw King with Chris Pine, while true story Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy will close it ten days later.

TIFF 2018 opening film

TIFF 2018 opening film announced – David McKenzie’s Outlaw King

Outlaw King follows the untold, true story of Robert the Bruce (here played by Chris Pine), who transforms from defeated nobleman to outlaw hero during the oppressive occupation of medieval Scotland by Edward I of England. Despite grave consequences, Robert seizes the Scottish crown and rallies an impassioned group of men to fight back against the mighty army of the tyrannical King and his volatile son, the Prince of Wales.

Outlaw King is a Netflix movie (take that, Cannes), and will debut on the streamer and in select cinemas in the U.S. from 9th November.

“Thank you, TIFF, for welcoming our film into the world. The Festival is the perfect launch pad for our realistic epic, and we are delighted to be the first Scottish film ever to open Toronto,” said director Mackenzie. “I cannot imagine a better place to have our World Premiere. Scotland and Canada’s histories are bound together, forged in the crucible of the struggles of history, bringing this day an affinity and sensibility that I hope will translate to a profound, visceral, and riotously entertaining experience. We have an amazing cast and crew working at the top of their game, and we are really looking forward to spreading some Scottish goodwill on the great city of Toronto.”

TIFF 2018 closing film

Ten days following the screening of the TIFF 2018 opening film, Justin Kelly’s Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy will close this year’s event. The film stars Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern and is based on one of the most
famous literary gambits in American history. It is adapted from the memoir ‘Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy‘ by Savannah Knoop.

Related: Author: The JT LeRoy Story review

The film is a based on a true story that goes beyond the headlines to reveal the most compelling literary hoax of our generation. Laura Albert (Laura Dern) is an author who writes under a fictionalised persona, a disenfranchised young queer man named JT LeRoy. When her debut novel becomes a bestseller and JT becomes the darling of the literary world, she comes up with a unique solution to preserve her anonymity while giving life to her nom-de-plume. Enter her boyfriend’s androgynous sister, Savannah Knoop (Kristen Stewart), who connects with Laura’s punk, feminist, outsider universe and agrees to be JT in the public eye. Together, they embark on a wild ride of double lives, infiltrating the Hollywood and literary elite — and discovering who they are in the process.

“With Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy, Justin Kelly brings to the screen a truly unbelievable story that captivated a nation,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “The storytelling is powerful and the characters are vivid, really evoking the idea that you have to see it to believe it.”

Very much looking forward to both of these two very different movies. This year’s TIFF runs from 6-16th September. Keep it here for full coverage on THN.

Latest Posts

More in Film Festivals