#FIRSTLOOK: RICHARD LINKLATER’S “NOUVELLE VAGUE” CANADIAN RELEASE DATE

tiff50 selection NOUVELLE VAGUE from Richard Linklater will debut across Canada October 31, 2025. We get a new Trailer today.

SELECTED OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Cannes Film Festival 2025
Toronto International Film Festival 2025
Atlantic International Film Festival 2025
Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival 2025
Vancouver International Film Festival 2025
New York Film Festival 2025
Telluride Film Festival 2025
Deauville American Film Festival 2025
Munich Film Festival 2025
San Sebastián International Film Festival 2025

Synopsis:
NOUVELLE VAGUE is Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater’s love letter to the revolutionary magic of the French New Wave, reimagining the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, which ultimately cemented Godard as a pioneer of global cinema. As critic-turned-director Godard makes and breaks the rules, a mix of fresh faces and daring talents — including Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Guillaume Marbeck as Godard himself — bring his spontaneous, electric film to life. Capturing the youthful dynamism and creative chaos at the heart of one of the world’s most beloved and influential movies, Nouvelle Vague transports us to the streets of 1959 Paris for an ode to the power of cinema to transform our lives.

Principal Cast:
Guillaume Marbeck (feature film debut) as Jean-Luc Godard
Zoey Deutch (The Politician, The Threesome, Set It Up) as Jean Seberg
Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo
Adrien Rouyard as François Truffaut
Antoine Besson as Claude Chabrol
Jodie Ruth-Forest as Suzanne Schiffman
Screenplay: Holly Gent, Vincent Palmo Jr., Michèle Halberstadt, Laetitia Masson

Country: France
Runtime: 106 minutes
Language: French (with English subtitles)

Executive Producers: Emmanuel Montamat, John Sloss
Producers: Laurent Pétin, Michèle Pétin
Canadian Distributor: Photon Films
U.S. Distributor: Netflix

ABOUT PHOTON FILMS AND MEDIA
Launched in 2010, Photon Films and Media (photonfilms.ca), formerly Pacific Northwest Pictures, is a leading Canadian entertainment company specializing in the development, financing, production and distribution of feature films for the domestic and international marketplace. With an emphasis on high quality films from leading filmmakers in diverse genres, Photon Films brings those films to consumers with innovative forms of marketing and distribution across all distribution platforms.

Recent theatrical releases include the SXSW Grand Jury and Audience Award Winner Bob Trevino Likes It from writer/director Tracie Laymon and starring Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo, Tribeca Audience Award Winner Bad Shabbos with Kyra Sedgwick, David Paymer and Method Man, and the critically acclaimed documentary One to One: John & Yoko from directors Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards. Upcoming films include Youngblood from director Hubert Davis and starring Blair Underwood and Ashton James, and Little Lorraine from director Andy Hines and starring Stephen Amell, Sean Astin, J Balvin, Matt Walsh, Rhys Darby and Stephen McHattie.

#TIFF25: “NOUVELLE VAGUE“ REVIEW

By David Baldwin

Today, we know (or at least know of) Jean-Luc Godard as one of the most famous and influential directors of all time. But before he became the legend, Godard (Guillaume Marbeck) was just a film critic writing for the prolific Cahiers du cinéma in the late 1950s. He is jealous of his colleagues for having made films, so he sets out to make his own. Despite never having made a feature-length film, Godard wants to do things his way and carve his own path – much to the chagrin of the more seasoned cast and crew.

NOUVELLE VAGUE (or New Wave) chronicles the lead up and making of the revolutionary French picture Breathless to a meticulously and often ridiculously detailed degree. It captures Godard’s eccentricities and the minutiae that drove his process and kickstarted the film’s namesake.

American Director Richard Linklater has very much composed a love letter to Godard here, and has a bad habit of overindulging in details and specificities. Obsessive film nerds will be in heaven watching him recreate scenes and situations, but more casual viewers (or those who know very little of the French New Wave) will be tormented by the languished pacing and Linklater’s decision to truncate very little of what happened on and off the “set”. That said, I do love that he maintained the black and white aesthetic that perfectly matches and compliments Godard’s original film. 

And while the cast is uniformly solid, standouts include Marbeck who is terrific as Godard, and Aubry Dullin who does very well as leading man Jean-Paul Belmondo. They are both overshadowed however by Zoey Deutch who positively slays as Jean Seberg (and speaks French rather exquisitely). 

NOUVELLE VAGUE screens at TIFF ’25:

Tues. Sept 9 at 6:30 PM at VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre

Wed. Sept 10 at 9:00 PM at TIFF Lightbox

Sun. Sept 14 at 10:00 AM at TIFF Lightbox

#TIFF23: “HIT MAN” REVIEW

By David Baldwin

Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) is a professor who moonlights as a surveillance operative for the police. He is asked to fill in as an “undercover hitman-for-hire” during one sting, and surprises everyone with the strength and believability of his performance. Gary quickly becomes the go-to undercover performer and one day meets Madison (Adria Arjona), who wants to hire him to kill her husband.

Talk about your classic meet cute.

HIT MAN, the latest from multi-hyphenate Director Richard Linklater, is easily one of the hottest and most sought-after tickets at TIFF ’23. It is not hard to figure out why – he directs the hell out of the Film, crafting an offbeat Romantic Comedy that is just a joy to watch. Linklater has never been nailed down to one genre over the course of his nearly 40-year career, always swinging for the fences with mainstream experimentation and zigging when you assume he should be zagging. Though there are a few occasional story stumbles here and places where it could have been tightened, this is easily one of his best and funniest films; the kind of screwball Comedy we have not seen in decades.

Of course, we cannot give Linklater all the credit. The Film is very much a collaboration between him and Writer/Producer Powell, who is having the time of his life. This is their third film together and I can only hope there will be more collabs soon, because this has the promise of being one of the great actor/director pairings. Powell is electric from the moment the Film begins, narrating with gusto and confidently jumping into every scene headfirst. The scenes with him chatting with different perps in very different costumes are a clear highlight, showcasing his range and adoration for the material (which is based on a true story). But it is his powder keg chemistry with Arjona that really makes the Film sing. It is immediately palpable in their first scene together, and only gets stronger and sexier as the Film goes on.

Make sure you have the fire department on speed dial when you watch. Because any time these two are together threatens to ignite the screen from how incendiary their chemistry is.

HIT MAN screens at TIFF ’23:

Monday, September 11 at 5:30 PM at Royal Alexandra Theatre

Tuesday, September 12 at 2:00 PM at Royal Alexandra Theatre

Saturday, September 16 at 8:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto [Newly Added]

ENTEGIVEAWAY: ENTER TO WIN ADVANCE PASSES TO SEE “EVERYBODY WANTS SOME”

Paramount Pictures Canada + Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to see the “spiritual sequel” to DAZED AND CONFUSED! Screenings for Richard Linklater’s EVERYBODY WANTS SOME, take place in Toronto, Ottawa + Montreal!

Synopsis:

A “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused set in the world of 1980 college life, Everybody Wants Some is a comedy that follows a group of friends as they navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood. Get ready for the best weekend ever.

See the Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, simply click “Like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK and let us know your city. Click “share” from there for an extra chance!

Paramount Pictures Canada release EVERYBODY WANTS SOME on March 30, 2016 in Toronto, April 8, 2016 in Montreal/Vancouver and across Canada April 15, 2016.

(Photo/video credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

#SPOTTED: ELLAR COLTRANE IN TORONTO FOR “BOYHOOD”

There is no breakthrough Actor getting more acclaim and buzz right now than Ellar Coltrane. The 18-year-old has put forth a few days of year after year, creating Director Richard Linklater‘s Masterpiece, Boyhood.

The Film starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, was filmed over 12 years, documenting the transition of a Boy named Mason (Coltrane) into a Man. It captures the subtle nuances of life as he goes from one Video Game fad to another, loving Coldplay to Pharrell. At two hours and fourty-five minutes, many Critics already are calling the Film a frontrunner for Best Picture in the forthcoming Awards Season. It ends with a new beginning, suggesting Linklater might even follow-up with another based on his fondness of time as seen and loved in his Before Trilogy, also starring Hawke.

This weekend only, Coltrane will be popping-up at screenings of Boyhood around Toronto including TIFF Bell Lightbox and Varsity Cinemas, doing intimate Q&As with Audiences. Refer here for which screenings specifically.

Coltrane, getting comfortable with his new-found stardom, was nice enough to stop for a quick Photo after casually walking up the Escalator with his Publicist to a foyer where a huge display of himself stands. He made a surprise appearance this evening at Varsity Cinemas, which surely will delight the Audience who might not have had the slightest clue he’d be coming!

See our Snap:

Mongrel Media release BOYHOOD, now in theatres.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

#TORONTOBOUND: SEE “BOYHOOD” STAR ELLAR COLTRANE IN TORONTO THIS WEEKEND!

One of the year’s best-reviewed Films is getting up-close and intimate with Toronto this weekend with a series of public screenings.  In a super-rare opportunity, the Star of BOYHOOD, Ellar Coltrane, will be doing a Series of Q&As this weekend following Screenings of the Film.  The Film directed by Richard Linklater documents the life of a Boy named Mason as he grows from age five to eighteen and yes, Coltrane literally grows-up before your eyes as he was filmed over a span of twelve years.

If you’re interested in checking it out, here are the Screenings:

Friday, July 25th at 7:15pm · TIFF Bell Lightbox

Saturday, July 26th at 3:45pm · TIFF Bell Lightbox

Saturday, July 26th at 8:20pm · Cineplex Varsity Cinema

Trailer below:

Have fun and don’t miss your chance to see Rising Star Coltrane in-person and witness the magic of this Movie for yourself!

 Mongrel Media release BOYHOOD, now in select theatres.

(Photo/video credit: Mongrel Media)