First Sale Tonight?

By Chase Kahn

No major film has signed a U.S. distribution deal from Toronto as of yet, but this article by Steven Zeitchik at Risky Biz Blog is good news. Two big-time Venice buzz-word films: Samuel Maoz's Lebanon and Tom Ford's A Single Man are apparently very, very close to being snatched up -- the former won the Golden Lion (top prize) and the latter won its star, Colin Firth, a Best Actor award from the festival.

If I were in Toronto right now, Tom Ford's A Single Man would be on the top of my must-see list. A former fashion designer, Ford has crafted an apparently unshakeable period film about a gay college professor (Firth) who contemplates suicide after the death of his lover in the 1960's. Its first big Toronto screening is tonight, with a U.S. distribution deal likely either afterwards or early tomorrow morning. This thing needs to get primed for an awards-season run starting in November or December or what-have-you. If it does, Firth is likely shoots right to the top of the Best Actor race.

Watch the trailer for A Single Man here.