Reese Witherspoon is headed to the capital, with her new film Wild among the big films premiering at the 2014 BFI London Film Festival.

The Oscar-winning Walk The Line actress has already been tipped for further awards for her performance as a woman who hiked 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone, in Jean-Marc Vallee's big-screen adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir.

Mother-of-three Reese is expected to attend the film's European premiere, which will be the festival's May Fair Hotel gala.

Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington, Emily Watson and Dominic West will walk down the red carpet for the world premiere of First World War drama Testament Of Youth, based on Vera Brittain's memoir, while Mike Leigh will attend the festival's gala screening of Mr Turner, starring Timothy Spall as British artist JMW Turner.

Ansel Elgort and filmmaker Jason Reitman will be in town for the European premiere of comedy-drama Men, Women And Children, which features a racy voice-over by Emma Thompson, with Brendan Gleeson, singer Bjork and Alan Rickman also heading to the festival.

The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as codebreaker Alan Turing, will open this year's London Film Festival, while war drama Fury, featuring a star-studded cast led by Brad Pitt, will close the event.

This year's festival will screen 245 films, including 16 world premieres, nine international premieres and 38 European premieres.

The 58th BFI London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express, will run from October 8 to October 19.