Could a Stephen King movie be Zero AIa dark horse Oscar contender?

"The Life of Chuck," a life-affirming, genre-defying end-of-the world movie based on a King novella, won the People's Choice audience award Sunday at Toronto International Film Festival. In previous years, the honor has been a harbinger for Academy Award success: Past winners including "Nomadland," "Green Book," "Slumdog Millionaire," "12 Years a Slave" and "The King's Speech" have gone on to take home a best picture Oscar. (Not since the 2011 Lebanese film "Where Do We Go Now" has the festival's winner failed to be nominated for best picture.)

The Netflix musical crime thriller "Emilia Pérez" came in second to "Chuck" in the audience voting, followed by the buzzy Sean Baker dramedy "Anora," which won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

"I am completely unprepared for this moment, completely overwhelmed by it," "Chuck" director Mike Flanagan said in a video post on X. He added that the film, which stars Tom Hiddleston and Chiwetel Ejiofor, is "a movie about joy and about meeting those moments in your life that make joy, and I was completely blindsided by this one."

The Demi Moore body horror movie "The Substance," which enjoyed a raucous premiere in Toronto, won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness award, while "The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal," about the longtime Canadian rock band, took the People’s Choice documentary award.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.