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At TIFF, Linklater’s Blue Moon Makes Canadian Debut as Cast Weighs Audience Feedback

At TIFF, Linklater emphasized using audience barometers over individual hot takes.

Actors Andrew Scott, Bobby Cannavale and Ethan Hawke pose for a group photo with director Richard Linklater at a press conference for their film “Blue Moon” at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cassandra Szklarski

Overview

  • Blue Moon held its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 8.
  • The film opens in Los Angeles and New York on Oct. 17, followed by a nationwide rollout beginning Oct. 24.
  • Ethan Hawke described transforming into Lorenz Hart by growing his hair, shaving his crown, and using body work and camera perspective to appear much shorter.
  • Linklater said early screenings can reveal pacing issues but he ignores individual notes once a film is finished, praising Toronto’s polite, cinephile crowd.
  • Set largely at Sardi’s on the 1943 Oklahoma! opening night, the film blends documented elements of Hart’s life with invention, including a broadened portrayal of his sexuality and a fictional fixation on a young woman.