Buzzy Films for Sale at TIFF
The underpinning of any major film festival are the high-stakes bidding wars over movies, especially those that play in the official selection.
Toronto has seen its fair share of action over the years, including the 2025 sale of Curry Barker’s Obsession, which went for $15 million to Focus Features before grossing more than $500 million worldwide.
This new crop of films is hoping for the same trajectory as buyers go to Toronto.
Bucking Fastard
Cast Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Orlando Bloom
Director Werner Herzog
Sales agent Gersh, HanWay Films
Siblings Kate and Rooney Mara share the screen for the first time as Jean and Joan Holbrooke, sisters who are so inextricably linked that they speak in unison and fall in love with the same man (Bloom). Loosely based on a true story, Herzog’s film examines the Holbrookes’ close ties when their shared obsession lands them in court.
The Face of Horror
Cast Jonah Hauer-King, Kristine Frøseth, Ellie Bamber
Director Anna Biller
Sales agent WME/Embankment
Biller wrote, directed and costumed this gory adaptation of a famous Japanese ghost story, in which a murdered woman rises from her grave to seek revenge on her ruthless husband. Biller sets her version in medieval England, with an aesthetic that pays homage to classic Technicolor horror films.
Girl Group
Cast Rebel Wilson, Randall Park, Lilah Pate, Jennifer Coolidge, Nicole Scherzinger
Director Rebel Wilson
Sales agent UTA
After starring in the “Pitch Perfect” trilogy, Wilson knows a thing or two about being in a girl group. She returns to TIFF with her sophomore feature, where she plays a burned-out pop star who becomes the reluctant mentor to a group of young girls reaching for stardom.
The Housewife
Cast Naomi Watts, Tye Sheridan, Luke Evans
Director Ben Shirinian
Sales agent Neon International
Watts stars as a 1960s New York City housewife whose husband (Evans) might be a Nazi in hiding. Sheridan plays New York Times journalist Joseph Lelyveld, who investigates the couple only to realize that justice is a complex notion. Shirinian makes his feature debut with the timely historical thriller, which is based on a true story; its screenplay landed Alyssa Hill on Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch list last year.
The Julia Set
Cast Chase Infiniti, Christopher Briney, Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs, Nina Hoss and Chlöe Bailey,
Director Niki Byrne
Sales agent Gersh
A former aerial photographer and licensed race car driver, Byrne makes her writer-director debut in the narrative space with “The Julia Set.”
The film is described as a “spiritual cousin” to Todd Field’s “Tár,” and follows a prodigious mathematics student (Infiniti) as she prepares for a grueling math competition while navigating the shark-infested waters of academia and love.
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me
Cast Jordan Gonzalez, Sam Morelos, Ava Phillippe
Director Tommy Dorfman
Sales agent UTA
“Laura Dean” will screen as a work-in-progress, and there are two key elements that are sure to entice buyers. One is Dorfman, the “13 Reasons Why” and “Sharp Stick” star who marks a second directorial effort in adapting Mariko Tamaki’s popular graphic novel. The second is Phillippe, doppelgänger to mom Reese Witherspoon and heir apparent to her rom-com throne. But this ain’t “Sweet Home Alabama,” as “Laura Dean” follows a teen girl seeking to end the toxic cycle of breaking up and making up with her same-sex partner.
The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd
Cast Amanda Seyfried, Scoot McNairy, Wunmi Mosaku
Director Tim Blake Nelson
Sales agent WME / D Squared Films / West End
Based on actual events, Nelson’s film stars Seyfried as an educator in an abusive marriage who falls for a charismatic inmate (McNairy) at the prison where she teaches creative writing. Nelson aims to explore what sparks when lonely hearts connect in unlikely places.
Prima Facie
Cast Cynthia Erivo
Director Susanna White
Sales agent Embankment / UTA
Erivo has given up the green of “Wicked” for the harrowing drama of this adapted stage play — portraying a rising star lawyer in London who represents victims of sexual assault. After the lawyer is raped by a colleague, she finds herself at the center of a patriarchal legal system she often controlled. Jodie Comer won the Tony and Olivier awards for the Broadway version, and Erivo has the chance to captivate once again on the big screen.
Rapinoe
Cast Megan Rapinoe
Director Rebeca Huntt
Sales agent UTA
Now retired from professional soccer, Megan Rapinoe reflects on her journey to Olympic and World Cup glory, her fight against pay inequity and her rise to queer icon. But Huntt’s intimate documentary is no highlight reel; instead, the director says, it reveals “the profound personal cost and inner transformation behind every battle Megan chose to wage.”
Re/Pair
Cast W. Kamau Bell, Adam Mansbach, Che “Rhymefest” Smith, Matisyahu, Patrisse Cullors, Van Jones, David Schwimmer
Director Lacey Schwartz Delgado
Sales agent Gersh
Described as a “bold film for a complicated moment,” “Re/Pair” brings together 19 pairs of Black and Jewish thinkers for wide-ranging, unguarded conversations about their families and communities.
The Surgeon
Cast Michelle Yeoh, Martin Freeman
Director Roshan Sethi
Sales agent WME/Legendary 193
Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh plays a kidnapped surgeon forced to work on a member of the mob. Fortunately, that’s weapon enough, as Yeoh’s action prowess is well used in Sethi’s pulse-pounding thriller with a killer soundtrack, including jams by Irish rockers Thin Lizzy.
Vintage Violence
Cast Cole Sprouse, Kiko Mizuhara, Nijiro Murakami, Pierre Taki, Hio Miyazawa
Director Eugene Kotlyarenko
Sales agent WME/Best Friend Forever
Internet satirist Kotlyarenko casts “Riverdale” alum Sprouse in his comic thriller as a disgraced livestreamer who discovers a cache of vintage denim. But when one of his subscribers (Mizuhara) lures him to Japan to sell the rare jeans, he gets tangled in a love triangle and runs afoul of the yakuza.
