“The Judge,” with Robert Downey Jr. as a lawyer trying to clear his father (Robert Duvall) of a murder charge, will serve as the opening-night film at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Friday.
The Warner Bros./Village Roadshow production will open the fest on Sept. 4, 15 years after its director, David Dobkin, brought his first film, “Clay Pigeons,” to the festival.
The film also stars Vera Farmiga, Vincent D’Onofrio and Billy Bob Thornton.
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TIFF’s opening-night film was conspicuously missing when the Toronto lineup of galas and special screenings was announced on Tuesday, with festival artistic director Cameron Bailey saying at the time that the fest had not yet completed a deal for the opener In the announcement on Friday, CEO Piers Handling said “the stars aligned” for “The Judge.”
The festival, the largest of the major fall film festivals, will run through Sept. 14.