The latest adaptation of horror master Stephen King’s “The Life of Chuck,” starring Tom Hiddleston, won the most coveted prize Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The People’s Choice Award at North America’s largest film festival has become something of a harbinger of the Oscars, predicting in recent years some of the future best picture winners, such as “Green Book” and “Nomadland.”
Directed by Mike Flanagan, “The Life of Chuck” is based on the 2020 novella “The Life of Chuck” by Stephen King. Charles Krantz, played on screen by British actor Tom Hiddleston, is a banker whose story is told in reverse chronological order and in a rather apocalyptic context.
Mark Hamill and Chiwetel Ejiofor round out the cast of the film, which is having its world premiere in Toronto but still without a distributor. A situation that should change after Sunday’s victory.
“The Life of Chuck” is followed in second place by the audacious musical comedy “Emilia Perez” about a transgender drug lord, and in third place by “Anora”, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, about the life of an erotic dancer from New York.
The festival once again attracted many celebrities this year, from Jennifer Lopez to Angelina Jolie, Jude Law, Salma Hayek and Denzel Washington.
In 2023, the People’s Choice Award went to “American Fiction,” which received five Oscar nominations and won the statuette for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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