Today’s Variety reports that Laurence Dunmore’s THE LIBERTINE, starring Johnny Depp as the Earl of Rochester, will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival next month. The screening is scheduled for Thursday, September 16, at 6:30 pm. A second showing will take place Saturday, September 18th, at noon. THE LIBERTINE will be one of the festival’s Special Presentations. A huge Zone thank-you to Sandstorm and Neophyte for bringing us this exciting news. Further information comes from DeepinDepp, who found a Canadian wire service story stating that THE LIBERTINE is not yet finished and is being shown as a “work-in-progress” at the festival.

Information on the Toronto Film Festival is available here . Single tickets for screenings can be ordered online, beginning Wednesday, September 8, 2004, at 7:00 a.m. EDT. For information on ordering screening tickets, click here .

Emma reports that Johnny is NOT on the official list of celebrities who will be attending the festival–here is the list of attendees. At this point, no one from THE LIBERTINE is confirmed as attending–not Johnny, not John Malkovich or Samantha Morton, not director Laurence Dunmore–which is rather unusual, but may be due to the film’s status as a work-in-progress. Perhaps the cast will be doing publicity via satellite to promote the film, or perhaps travel plans are not yet final. We certainly hope to see some of THE LIBERTINE’s talented team in Toronto, since the film still lacks a North American distributor, and the festival would provide an opportune moment to obtain a North American distribution deal. Fans would certainly like a chance to view the finished film someday!