Good Lord! It’s not time for Toronto already. Is it? No, actually. There are still two months to go before that hugely influential film festival kicks off. But the organisers have announced some of their big gala screenings.

The event will begin with the premiere of Rian Johnson’s much-anticipated Looper. A thriller about time-travelling assassins, the latest from the director of Brick stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a young Bruce Willis. If you say so.

Other pictures premiering include Ben Affleck’s Argo, a tale of 1970s Iran, David O Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, a peculiar comedy featuring Bradley Cooper, and Mike Newell’s adaptation of Great Expectations. Can you believe Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch? That’s what Newell is asking of you.

The people who run Venice, which plays out just before the Canadian festival, are also grinding into action. Mira Nair’s adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist will be launching events on the Lido. The film stars Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland.

The really thrilling news is that, after mucking around for years on The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick has already finished his follow up. To The Wonder (yes, that’s what it’s now called) will premiere at Venice before moving on to Canada. Two Malick films in a year and a half? You’re spoiling us, sir.