Benedict Cumberbatch's The Fifth Estate will open the 38th Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, Digital Spy said.

The Bill Condon-directed drama, which centres on the scandals engulfing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is one of three Cumberbatch movies already confirmed for the film event.

The Sherlock and Star Trek Into Darkness star will also feature in Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender's latest collaboration 12 Years a Slave and August: Osage County, which counts Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in its star-studded cast.

The Canadian film festival will also host Idris Elba's Nelson Mandela biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, while the George Clooney/Sandra Bullock sci-fi Gravity and Ron Howard Formula 1 drama Rush are to screen at the event.

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner's You Are Here is one of four directorial debuts scheduled to premiere alongside Mike Myers's Supermensch The Legend of Shep Gordon, Keanu Reeves's Man of Tai Chi and Jason Bateman's Bad Words.

Cory Monteith's last film All the Wrong Reasons is also rumoured to be debuting at Toronto.

The films are among the 13 gala screenings and 52 special presentations unveiled today by TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey. The full lineup will be announced on August 7.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5 to September 15.