Actor Bruce Willis poses in Cannes, France, on May 16, 2012. his year's Toronto International Film Festival will open with the Bruce Willis time-travelling thriller "Looper," and showcase projects starring A-listers Ben Affleck, Ryan Gosling, Tom Hanks, Rachel McAdams, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Redford. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Joel Ryan

TORONTO - This year's Toronto International Film Festival will open with the Bruce Willis time-travelling thriller "Looper," and showcase projects starring A-listers Ben Affleck, Ryan Gosling, Tom Hanks, Rachel McAdams, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Redford.

Organizers revealed the gala and special selections at a press conference this morning and also touted the world premiere of Deepa Mehta's sweeping Salman Rushdie adaptation, "Midnight's Children."

The fest's artistic director Cameron Bailey calls the mix "one of the most international and diverse" they've ever had.

The big films include world premieres of Affleck's political thriller "Argo," Hanks' centuries-spanning epic "Cloud Atlas," Gosling's drama "The Place Beyond the Pines" and Paltrow's dramedy "Thanks for Sharing."

The futuristic, time-travel flick "Looper" is about hitmen hired to kill victims from the future. Willis plays a man who is sent back in time to be killed by his younger self, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 6 to 16.

North American premieres announced Tuesday include Redford's drama "The Company You Keep," which he directs and stars in, while Terrence Malick directs "To The Wonder," starring Affleck, Javier Bardem and McAdams.

"It's a big list, I'm very excited about it," says Bailey.

"The gala (section) especially is one of the most international and diverse that we've ever had and (includes) lots of films that I think people have been expecting to see.... We're just thrilled to have them here."

This will be the second year in a row a non-Canadian feature will kick-off the annual showcase, regarded by many as a key platform for potential Oscar contenders.

While Canuck openers have been traditional in the past, Bailey says he wants to "expand the range" of what launches the movie marathon.

Last year, the fest began with the U2 documentary "From the Sky Down." Before that it was the campy Canuck sing-a-long "Score: A Hockey Musical."

Bailey says some buyers will skip the opening film because it has historically been seen as "the Canadian night."

"We want to make sure that changes over time and I think one of the ways we can do that is just make it a night that the entire world's film industry pays attention to, rather than just our local friends in the industry."

So far, the most high-profile homegrown pick is Mehta's sweeping "Midnight's Children," an ambitious Canadian-UK co-production based on Rushdie's Booker Prize-winning novel and adapted for the screen by Rushdie himself.

Also earning a gala berth is Canadian director Ruba Nadda, whose Middle East thriller "Inescapable" stars Alexander Siddig, Marisa Tomei and Joshua Jackson.

A prestigious gala slot is often better than the opening night position for a Canuck project looking for U.S. sales, says Bailey. He notes the first-night screening comes with "a lot of pressure from the hometown audience."

"If you talk to producers or you talk to the people who are selling Canadian film they will tell you they want a different kind of screening — they don't want expectations to be overly inflated. They want to come in a little under the radar and then surprise with a great movie."

The festival's Canadian slate is expected to be announced Aug. 8.

Bailey says the effects-laden "Looper," written and directed by Rian Johnson, is a "super-fun way" to launch this year's festival.

"It's not just stuff blowing up, this is a really smart script," he says.

"It's about big ideas and some of the things that you've seen in the science fiction genre and literature over many, many decades but played out in a really entertaining way."

News from © The Canadian Press, 2012