Stephen King celebrates a major award win forThe Life of Chuck. Based on a genre-bending King story, the film from director Mike Flanagan tells the tale of an ordinary man named Chuck in reverse.The Life of Chuckcastincludes Tom Hiddleston, Kate Siegel, Karen Gillan, Molly C. Quinn, Jacob Tremblay, Mark Hamill, Matthew Lillard, and David Dastmalchian,and the film had big news recently when it won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Now,Kingreacts toThe Life of Chuckwinning TIFF. First, the author commented onThe Life of Chuck’s chances at winning TIFF, referring to it as the “dark horse” of the festival. Regarding the win itself, King was outright celebratory:
LIFE OF CHUCK was the dark horse winner of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) People’s Choice Award. I’m so blissed out for Mike Flanagan and his talented troupe of actors.
Flanaganthen reacted to King’s praise, posting “I’m beside myself. And so grateful to Steve for trusting us with his beautiful story.”
What The Life Of Chuck’s TIFF Win Means For The Film
The Movie Would Likely Do Well In Theaters
King is right in saying thatThe Life of Chuckwas not the most likely winner for the coveted award.The films that typicallywin at TIFF tend towards the more conventional drama side. For example, some of the last few winners have includedThe Fabelmans,Belfast, andNomadland. EvenThe Life of Chuck’s TIFF competitors were much higher profile than it, includingEmilia PerezandAnora, both of which were successful at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. In contrast,The Life of Chuckdid not have the same festival reputation yet.
The Life Of Chuck: Release Date, Cast, Story, Trailer & Everything We Know About The Stephen King Movie
The Life of Chuck is bringing together horror masters Stephen King and Mike Flanagan once again, and here’s everything we know.
The Life of Chuck’s receptionis a great indicator that audiences will love the movie by the time it hits theaters. Unlike winning the top prizes at Cannes or Venice, which are awarded by juries of industry professionals, this award is voted on by TIFF’s audiences. In some ways, it holds more weight to howThe Life of Chuckwould do in theaters, as it’s an indicator of how a film has gone over with the public.
Flanagan’s Movie Might Have Just Joined The Oscars Race
In addition to its potential box office success,The Life of Chuck’s TIFF win might’ve catapulted it into the Oscars conversation. Historically,this particular film festival win has been highly indicative of a Best Picture nod.In fact, every single TIFF People’s Choice Award winner since 2012 has gone on to be nominated for Best Picture;12 Years A Slave,Green Book,andNomadlandhave even won. So, as excited as I personally or any other prospective audience members might be aboutThe Life of Chuckafter the TIFF win, the Oscar voting audience could also be impressed.
This might be looking a bit far ahead, but it’s going to be very valuable to Flanagan & Co. in the short term.The Life of Chuckdoesn’t have US distribution yet, and while that’s not too unusual for a TIFF premiere, it does put pressure on potential distributors wanting to take advantage of this momentum. This surprise victory could spark a bidding war, but campaign slates also might already be locked up, encouraging everyone to look for space in their 2025 release calendars. Either way, the audience award win probably drove up the price.
The Life of Chuck
Cast
The Life of Chuck is a film exploring the life of Chuck Krantz, presented in reverse chronological order.
