Should George Clooney and the cast of his upcoming film “Suburbicon” start blocking off their Sundays during award season?
It may be a little premature to say, but a first look at the film and the announcement of its Toronto Film Festival premiere inspire confidence that Clooney could have a contender on his hands.
In “Suburbicon,” Matt Damon stars as the patriarch of a family who lives in a peaceful, idyllic suburban community called Suburbicon that is much more than it seems. Set in summer 1959, the story follows Damon’s Gardner Lodge as he navigates “the town’s dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit, and violence,” according to a description from studio Paramount.
The film, directed by Clooney and written by Joel and Ethan Coen, stars Damon, Julianne Moore and Oscar Issac.
The first pictures from the movie, released Tuesday, show Damon in full ’50s dad mode.
Also on Tuesday, the Toronto International Film Festival announced its initial slate of films, a lineup that included “Suburbicon,” which will hold its North American premiere at the festival in September.
Clooney isn’t the only high-profile actor-turned-director bringing a project to TIFF.
Angelina Jolie’s Cambodian war film “First They Killed My Father,” a Netflix original, is set to hold its Canadian premiere at the fest. Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” will hold its international premiere. And Andy Serkis will make his directorial debut with the made-for-Oscars film “Breathe,” starring Andrew Garfield as a man who pioneers technology for people with disabilities after becoming paralyzed due to polio.
Other highly anticipated premieres to be held include those for “I, Tonya,” the Tonya Harding biopic starring Margot Robbie, Emma Stone and Steve Carell’s “Battle of the Sexes,” “Stronger,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a Boston Marathon bombing survivor, and “The Mountain Between Us,” starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017