Despite The Life of Chuck being released in June 2025 and gaining impressive ratings on both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, the film did not even make it to the Oscars prediction. The film was largely absent from awards-season discussions commencing in late 2025, even though it was widely praised as the “best Stephen King adaptation” compared to the rest of King’s adaptations in 2025, like The Long Walk (2025), The Running Man (2025), and The Monkey (2025).
Why The Life of Chuck didn’t make it to Oscars shortlist or even nearly predictions? The film won big at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) but failed to get any distributor after that. A number of reasons were at play that kept the film out of Oscar prediction lists and diminished its chances at the Oscars 2026.
Was the release timing the reason The Life of Chuck didn’t make it to Oscars?
One of the biggest reasons The Life of Chuck didn’t make it to the 2026 Oscar predictions is its release strategy. Winning the prestigious People’s Choice Award at the 2024 TIFF, which is a historic Oscar recognition, the film could not pave its way as Neon’s late acquisition in 2025.
Neon took a few weeks to decide to take The Life of Chuck for its release schedule. Neon had 2024’s schedule full, where Anora was the lead contender for Best Picture after having won the Palme d’Or. Anora had already become a critical darling during the time The Life of Chuck premiered at TIFF.
Sidelining Anora was impossible at that time, and by the time The Life of Chuck’s release was pushed to June 2025 by Neon, the distributor was already making buzz with other big international wins like Sentimental Value, Sirat, and It Was Just an Accident after the Cannes festival.
It looked like The Life of Chuck could not get the spotlight it deserved due to the domination of Palme winners and Neon getting overloaded with North American distribution deals for the other breakout titles.
By the time the Oscar voting began in late 2025, the initial buzz from its September 2024 premiere had faded. Coming to think of it, The Secret Agent was released late in 2025, too, and still tops the Oscar 2026 predictions. Releasing a film late in the year should not be an issue for The Life of Chuck, but there were other factors, too.
Box office performance
Based on 2025 box office data and critical reception, The Life of Chuck did not perform well theatrically, grossing roughly $11 million worldwide, per The Numbers. The movie was allowed to open in only 16 theaters with a two-week run.
No production budget was shared for the film, but the earnings are still considered low. It is a generally held perception that award-winning movies typically do not release in the summer; however, that was not the case for many films released in the summer and fall of 2025, and now they are the frontrunners for the Best Picture award in 2026.
Even with the People’s Choice award winner, The Life of Chuck was held back for half of the year before receiving a theatrical release date. By the time it finally reached theaters, its Oscar potential had largely become irrelevant. Although Neon acquired the distribution rights with award prospects in mind, much of the early buzz surrounding the film had already faded.
Marketing challenges
The film’s non-horror structure, especially knowing that it is associated with names like Stephen King and Mike Flanagan, possibly lost the immediate momentum gained from its TIFF win. The “life-affirming” theme presented marketing difficulties to Neon.
Audiences and industry observers often expect darker and genre-driven material from both creatives, and the film’s restrained, meditative approach defied those expectations. Consequently, the marketing challenges worked against it during the awards season, and it found it difficult to sustain.
Based on Stephen King’s novella, the film has a non-linear and reverse-chronological structure, just like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Marketing such a story to the conventional audiences who demand a conventional King horror story was a task since the film did not fit well into the easy categorization otherwise.
Marketing problems also occurred due to the divided audiences that the film’s themes addressed. Its gentle and extremely sentimental nature was difficult to perceive for some, and it could not sell to mainstream audiences.
The film focused on the “live-laugh-love” philosophy, which is the same as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The latter won Brad Pitt an Academy Award for Best Actor, but Chuck was called “saccharine” or “schmaltzy,” as per The Guardian. Despite the film’s structure divided into three acts, moving from apocalyptic to coming-of-age to childhood, the audience found it slow and disjointed.
Neon’s trailer wasn’t much help if you didn’t know what the film was actually about. The messy marketing couldn’t help convey the tonally tricky plot of the film. After the film’s box office performance, it felt like Neon gave up on the film.
Overall, the TIFF award win, while an esteemed accolade, ultimately felt more like a boon for the festival than for The Life of Chuck itself. The Life of Chuck was a harder sell with a wrong release time and wrong marketing tactics from the distributor. Combined with the film’s non-horror, contemplative tone- which defied audience expectations of a Stephen King or Mike Flanagan project- these factors made Chuck a disconnect between expectations and content.
Passionate Entertainment Writer | Trusted Pop Culture Voice
Madiha Ali is an experienced entertainment writer with over five years of expertise in covering movies, TV shows, celebrity news, and pop culture. Her bylines appear on trusted platforms like High on Films, Ary News, The Express Tribune, Tea and Banter, Show Snob, CelebFeedz, Snapfeedz, Daily Planet Media, The Irish Insider, and Movie Insiderz.
She brings a personal, insightful approach to every story—whether she’s analyzing the emotional layers of a film or giving her take on trending celebrity headlines. Madiha’s writing style is known for being authentic, well-researched, and reader-focused.
When she’s not writing, she’s fully immersed in the world of entertainment—watching new releases, revisiting classics, exploring behind-the-scenes content, or reading books that fuel her creativity. Her passion for storytelling drives her work and helps her stay connected to what matters most in the industry.
Madiha believes great stories start conversations, challenge perspectives, and stay with us long after the credits roll. Through her writing, she continues to share those stories with clarity, depth, and heart.
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