The Toronto International Film Festival has announced the first wave of its 2026 lineup, revealing 64 titles across its Gala and Special Presentations sections, including 32 world premieres. Notable entries include Anton Corbijn's "A Talent for Murder" starring Helen Mirren as crime novelist Patricia Highsmith, Chris Rock's "Misty Green" featuring Rosalind Eleazer, Daniel Kaluuya and Adam Driver, and Peter Farrelly's Sylvester Stallone biopic "I Play Rocky", his first TIFF return since "Green Book" swept to Best Picture after premiering there in 2018. The announcement matters because TIFF remains a key launchpad for awards-season contenders, and this year's selections span major studios and starry ensembles ahead of the festival's 51st edition.

The 51st TIFF runs from 10 to 20 September and opens with Siân Heder's "Being Heumann". Other highlights include John Madden's "Onwards and Sideways" starring Laura Linney, Rhys Ifans and Rory Kinnear, a drama about a couple confronting Parkinson's disease; Courteney Cox's second directorial feature "Evil Genius" with Patricia Arquette; Tim Blake Nelson's prison thriller "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd" starring Amanda Seyfried; and Chase Infiniti's follow-up to "One Battle After Another", the coming-of-age drama "The Julia Set". "A Talent for Murder" opens in cinemas on 23 October, and "I Play Rocky" is set for release on 6 November.