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‘Page Eight’ to close this year’s festival

A cerebral spy film starring Bill Nighy and Rachel Weisz, a Joel Schumacher-directed home-invasion thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman, and a biopic about Winnie Mandela starring Jennifer Hudson were among the splashy new films added to the lineup of the Toronto International Film Festival.

TORONTO — A cerebral spy film starring Bill Nighy and Rachel Weisz, a Joel Schumacher-directed home-invasion thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman, and a biopic about Winnie Mandela starring Jennifer Hudson were among the splashy new films added to the lineup of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Page Eight, Oscar-nominated David Hare’s first directorial effort since 1997, was announced as the closing film for this year’s festival — which runs Sept. 8 to 18 — but could keep film junkies chattering.

That’s because the film, which casts Nighy as an M15 officer whose operation is threatened when his boss and best friend dies, is simply stellar, said international programmer Jane Schoettle.

“It’s a very, very good movie,” she said. “It’s one of the smartest movies I’ve seen in a long time. And the performance by Bill Nighy is just a knockout. And Rachel Weisz is equally as good.

“But it’s a really smart, good story, that has a lot of layers and I think it’s just gonna be terrific. People will love it.”

Page Eight was one of several TIFF-bound thrillers announced Tuesday that have big stars attached.

Oscar-nominated director Gary McKendry will premiere his first feature-length effort, Killer Elite. Jason Statham is cast as a retired special ops agent who goes back to work to protect his mentor, played by Robert De Niro.

Marc Forster’s Machine Gun Preacher, which is based on a true story, stars Gerard Butler as the former drug-dealing criminal Sam Childers, who finds redemption in the rescue of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children. Schoettle calls the film “fascinating.”

And then there’s Schumacher’s fierce thriller Trespass, which showcases the reliably intense Cage as a family man facing the possibility of losing everything — his beautiful wife (Kidman), teen daughter and lavish estate — during a vicious home invasion.

“What’s the thing past white-knuckle?” Schoettle says with a laugh when asked about the harrowing film.

“What Trespass has is this fantastically atmospheric sense of foreboding and threat.

“There is not an overabundance of real violence in it, but it’s the sense of foreboding and the menace that’s in it that will keep people pinned to their seats.”

South African director Darrell J. Roodt will premiere Winnie, a sensitive portrayal of Nelson Mandela’s controversial ex-wife that, Schoettle says, has actually been endorsed by a previously reluctant Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

“Violet & Daisy,” meanwhile, marks the directorial debut of Academy Award-winning “Precious” screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher, whose first film won the People’s Choice Award when it debuted at the Toronto film festival in 2009.

His new movie follows a teenager’s surreal and violent journey through New York, starring Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (“Atonement”), Alexis Bledel (“Gilmore Girls”) and “Sopranos” star James Gandolfini. Schoettle says the film is “not like anything you’ve seen before.”

Tanya Wexler’s romantic comedy “Hysteria” could be similarly — ahem — buzzy. Oscar nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal stars in the fact-based tale of the scientist who invented the first electro-mechanical vibrator.

“It has ancillary relevance in terms of women’s rights and what was going on in terms of social and economic issues around that time,” said Schoettle, who raved about Gyllenhaal’s “standout” performance in the film.

“It’s really interesting and beautifully done.”

The festival also unveiled several other dimensions to its lineup.

The international program will include 51 films from around the world — including the Cannes entry “Footnote” from Oscar nominee Joseph Cedar — while its cutting-edge Visions program will feature “ALPS,” the latest film from Greek “Dogtooth” director Yorgos Lanthimos.

Meanwhile, the Future Projections lineup — which focuses on moving-image artwork — could get a boost of star power.

This year’s program will feature “Memories of Idaho,” a multi-part meditation on the well-loved 1991 road drama “My Own Private Idaho,” assembled by the movie’s director Gus Van Sant and James Franco. The tireless actor, director, author, student and artist got involved because he’s a fan of the celebrated River Phoenix film.

The installation will be displayed publicly for free for the duration of the festival, as will works by Banksy-associated street artist Mr. Brainwash and “Project Grizzly” director Peter Lynch.

“More and more people are discovering the program every year,” Schoettle said.

“It’s really fantastic, and it’s not just for people who are interested in the visual arts. It’s a remarkable program.”

The Toronto International Film Festival is scheduled to announce the remainder of its lineup next week.