James Gray’s “The Lost City of Z,” starring Charlie Hunnam, will have its world premiere as the closing night screening at the 2016 New York Film Festival.

With a cast that also includes Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland, “Lost City of Z” centers on Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett (Hunnam), an explorer who spent decades in search of a lost city in the wilds of the Amazon, at great cost to his personal life. Writer-director Gray returns to NYFF after his 2014 outing, “The Immigrant,” screened as part of that year’s festival.

Presented annually by Film Society of Lincoln Center, the New York Film Festival’s tightly curated main slate of 25-30 features can serve as an important festival show case in the run-up to awards season. Prior projects to bow as part of NYFF include “The Social Network,” “Hugo,” “Life of Pi,” “Gone Girl” and “Bridge of Spies.”

At the moment, “Lost City of Z” has no distributor attached. Filmmakers anticipate a 2017 release, which would mean that the movie would sit out the 2016 awards derby.

The movie joins a developing NYFF lineup that also includes Ava DuVernay’s “The 13th” and Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women.” The full main slate is due to be announced next week.

Produced by Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Anthony Katagas and Dale Armin Johnson, and Exec produced by Brad Pitt and Marc Butan, “Lost City of Z” will bow Oct. 15. The 2016 New York Film Festival runs Sept. 30-Oct. 16.