Sylvester Stallone, Rupert Murdoch biopics among projects coming to TIFF

Advertisement

Advertise with us

TORONTO - Biopics about Sylvester Stallone, Rupert Murdoch and Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve will play at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

TORONTO – Biopics about Sylvester Stallone, Rupert Murdoch and Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve will play at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.

“I Play Rocky,” directed by Peter Farrelly and starring Anthony Ippolito as Stallone, will get its world premiere at the festival.

It’s one of dozens of films TIFF announced as part of its gala and special presentation programs on Monday.

A still from
A still from "I Play Rocky," directed by Peter Farrelly. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-TIFF (Mandatory Credit)

Also playing in Toronto is “Ink,” Danny Boyle’s film that’s set to open the Venice International Film Festival just before TIFF kicks off.

It stars Guy Pearce as Murdoch and focuses on his impact on tabloid journalism.

The festival will also feature “Villeneuve: Rise of a Legend,” a biopic about the Canadian F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve who won six Grands Prix in six seasons before dying in a crash.

The movie from director Yan Lanouette Turgeon will be the closing night film.

Also programmed at the festival is “Fjord,” a Norway-set drama about political polarization, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in March.

Jesse Eisenberg’s musical comedy “The Debut,” about a housewife cast in a community theatre production, and Ira Sachs’ “The Man I Love,” about a gay theatre actor diagnosed with AIDS in 1980s New York, will also play at TIFF.

Meanwhile Lauren Miller Rogen’s sophomore film “Babies” will have its world premiere in Toronto.

The film stars Miller Rogen’s husband, Seth Rogen, and Anna Kendrick as a married couple trying to decide whether to have children.

The 51st edition of TIFF runs from Sept. 10 to 20.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2026.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Rural residents ‘outraged’ property owner charged after shots fired during confrontation with alleged thieves: MLA

Zoe Pierce 5 minute read Preview

Rural residents ‘outraged’ property owner charged after shots fired during confrontation with alleged thieves: MLA

Zoe Pierce 5 minute read Yesterday at 8:02 PM CDT

A rural Manitoba MLA says he has heard from constituents who are “shocked and outraged” that a 66-year-old man is facing charges after he fired shots at a group of people accused of stealing from his property.

Read
Yesterday at 8:02 PM CDT

‘Frustrated’ Selkirk nurses plead for help

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

‘Frustrated’ Selkirk nurses plead for help

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026

The province must take immediate action to increase low staffing levels that are putting Selkirk emergency room nurses at risk, a letter sent to the premier and health minister says.

The letter, sent by the Manitoba Nurses Union and signed by 35 ER nurses, detailed multiple recent incidents at the Selkirk Regional Health Centre. In one case, a nurse was stabbed with a pen by a patient who had been waiting 24 hours for care. In another case, a nurse was bitten by a patient.

“Nurses in that emergency department are extremely frustrated,” said Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson. “This is not something that happened in the last month — or overnight — these are problems that have been growing.”

The five-page letter was sent Tuesday to Premier Wab Kinew, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara and leaders of the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority. It contained 10 requests to improve safety inside the emergency department, including establishing safer nurse-to-patient staffing levels, eliminating the practice of “single physician coverage” in the emergency department and implementing an institutional safety officer around the clock.

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026

City blames weather for creating new sinkhole on Sturgeon Creek path

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview

City blames weather for creating new sinkhole on Sturgeon Creek path

Malak Abas 3 minute read Yesterday at 6:12 PM CDT

After a massive water-filled hole on a Sturgeon Creek active-transportation pathway took more than a year to fix, a new sinkhole has opened nearby.

In June 2023, the Free Press reported on a gaping depression stretching seven metres long, three metres wide and up to a metre deep that opened on a pathway leading to a playground on Amarynth Crescent near the Sturgeon Creek active-transportation route. The city finally made repairs in October 2024.

Now, about 12 metres away from that spot, a new crater has appeared. The hole, about three metres long and 2.5 metres wide, has been blocked off using metal rods and plastic netting, but resident Philip Kaban said the opening is getting larger.

“This big hole in the middle is getting bigger and bigger,” Kaban said Thursday.

Read
Yesterday at 6:12 PM CDT

Planned Elmwood Hub project combines 115 mixed-income housing units, social supports, programs

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview

Planned Elmwood Hub project combines 115 mixed-income housing units, social supports, programs

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Updated: 8:25 AM CDT

A long-awaited project will aim to add 115 new homes in Elmwood, with on-site social programs to support some of its more vulnerable residents.

Read
Updated: 8:25 AM CDT

Doctor speaks out, raises alarm over gas plant expansion plans

Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read Preview

Doctor speaks out, raises alarm over gas plant expansion plans

Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

A retired doctor is raising red flags on Manitoba Hydro’s proposed gas plant expansion in Brandon and the health-related consequences of climate change.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Transit union pleads for full shields after near ‘hijacking situation’

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Transit union pleads for full shields after near ‘hijacking situation’

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:37 PM CDT

The union representing Winnipeg Transit drivers says the need for full safety shields is critical after an operator was threatened with a hatchet early Thursday.

Read
Yesterday at 6:37 PM CDT