'Che,' 'Hurt Locker' wake up Toronto

The not-an-Iraq-war movie set in Iraq that follows an elite Army squad during wartime has sold at the Toronto International Film Festival, giving the event the jolt it needed to make it something more than a love-in for standing-ovation-happy Canadian movie fans.

Summit Entertainment snatched up "The Hurt Locker," a rare action film by a woman director -- Kathryn Bigelow, for somewhere north of $1 million. Since even Oscar pedigrees haven't been able to entice people to see recent dramas based on the most unpopular war since Vietnam, new player Summit will have its work cut out.

On the heels of that sale, IFC Films picked up Steven Soderbergh's four-plus-hour "Che," with plans to release it in two parts for week-long Oscar qualifying runs in December. After that, it's going VOD and wider in theaters, one of the highest profile movies ever to test a simultaneous release strategy and the patience of anyone who's not a Latin American history buff.

Audiences at Cannes weren't so thrilled with the biopic, except for Benecio Del Toro's potentially awards-worthy lead performance, but Soderbergh has reportedly tweaked and trimmed.

With the early Monday sale of "The Wrestler" to Fox Searchlight, Toronto has come to life but noticeably without the dangerous overpay-and-regret-later trend of some festivals like Sundance. It's also becoming an early proving ground for major awards contenders-to-watch. Highest on the list so far: Mickey Rourke as a past-his-prime on-the-ropes pro wrestler.

We'll keep following. Y'all keep reading.