Clooney, Pitt join Toronto guest list

TORONTO -- The 36th annual Toronto Film Festival has introduced an outstanding roster of celebrated thesps, company directors and industry honchos likely to hit the red-colored carpet the following month meant for Hollywood fare and a range of in-play indie photos.Thesps George Clooney, Kaira Pitt, Clive Owen, Jason Statham, Ewan McGregor, Jon Hamm and Viggo Mortensen should fire up shutterbug excitement, as will leading ladies Rachel Weisz, Keira Knightley, Abbie Cornish, Carey Mulligan, Megan Fox, Jennifer Hudson and Michelle Yeoh. Worldwide stars illuminating the fest's downtown hub include Catherine Deneuve, Freida Pinto, Akshay Kumar, Jeon Do-Yeon, Isabelle Huppert, Jean Dujardin, Alessandra Negrini, Shahid Kapoor and Alexander Skarsgard.U.S. filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne, Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan Demme, James Franco, Madonna, Gus Van Sant and Joel Schumacher take presctiption deck to provide new photos, while Luc Besson, Michael Winterbottom, Nadine Labaki, Steve McQueen, Frederick Cedar plank, Nanni Moretti and Wim Wenders are among 100s of worldwide helmers landing with fresh work. The Canadian contingent includes company directors Sarah Polley, David Cronenberg, Mary Harron, Guy Maddin, Jum Pool, Philippe Falardeau, Jean-Marc Vallee and Mike Clattenburg, as the spotlight fires up Canuck thesps Christopher Plummer, Seth Rogan, Scott Speedman, Sarah Gadon, Pascale Bussieres and Patrick Huard.U2, Gem Jam, Neil Youthful and Paul Williams will even rock the launches of world-preeming docus exploring their on-going work and musical legacies. The festival runs Sept. 8-18. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com