The Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer bring to the Toronto International Film Festival their highly anticipated adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, and after catching the first official images from the film yesterday, the first trailer and banner have made their way online, and they are brilliant.

Not only is the trailer awesome itself, but it’s an extended trailer at over five-and-a-half minutes in length, which is really something for our first good look at the film.

And given that its official running time currently stands at 164 minutes – the same as The Dark Knight Rises – I think it’s safe to say that we’ve still got plenty of footage left for us when it arrives on the big screen.

The cast is extremely strong, with Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, James D’Arcy, and Doona Bae leading the way.

“Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Hugo Weaving head a stellar international cast in this visionary, time-tripping science-fiction epic from directors Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Lana and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix).”

Given that that festival plot doesn’t really give much away in terms of plot, here’s the original novel’s synopsis, courtesy of Amazon, if you’d like to know a little more:

“A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation — the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.”

With such a strong cast, an incredibly successful original novel, and what looks to be a strong vision behind the camera, you have to think that the Oscar buzz surrounding the film is going to be strong in the coming months.

Cloud Atlas will be making its world debut at TIFF this September, before heading to the US on 26th October, with an as-yet-unannounced October release date set for the UK, too. And as usual with the first banner below, you can click to enlarge. You can’t help but love Tom Hanks’ and Hugo Weaving’s voices.

[Unfortunately the first video has been taken down, but you can head over here for the first official trailer, directors’ commentary & poster.]

If your appetite is still not sated click HERE to see a ton of new pictures from the film.