Netflix movie kicks off Cannes

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) launched on Thursday with a Netflix production – the first time any major movie showcase has opened on a release not intended for theatres.

Cannes, the world’s largest film festival, issued a decree earlier this year banning movies from competition that do not have a theatrical release in France.

But in an apparent rebuke, the 43rd TIFF opens with Netflix’s Outlaw King, which will be available only to subscribers of the streaming giant.

“We went with the best film we could find that really fit the scale that we want for opening night,” festival chief Cameron Bailey said.

“It’s a big period epic, a really rousing story of Robert the Bruce, a contemporary of William Wallace who audiences might remember from Braveheart,” he said.

Filmed in Scotland, Outlaw King reunites director David Mackenzie with his Hell or High Water actor Chris Pine, who plays the 14th century Scottish king.

The epic story about Robert the Bruce’s struggle to regain control of Scotland after England declares him an outlaw also stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh and Billy Howle.

Netflix pulled all its films out of Cannes after the ban was announced on its non-theatrical releases. Bailey said, however, TIFF was “fully behind the theatrical experience.

“I think people are going to be thrilled to see films in the finest possible way you can present them, which is in a great big old theatre with incredible sound,” he said. “But if the films come from a streaming service, that’s just fine.”

Bailey added that online movie platforms were “supporting some of the best talent around these days”. – AFP