Steven Spielberg and Weird Al take home the People’s Choice Award at TIFF

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Both legends won for their fictionalized biopics

The Fabelmans and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
(Image credit: Amblin Entertainment/The Roku Channel)

'Weird' Al Yankovic and Steven Spielberg both took home the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Spielberg's The Fabelmans, loosely based on his own childhood, took home the top People's Choice Award in the overall category. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, a parody of the parody singer's life, won in the Midnight Madness category. The first Runner Up for the award was Sarah Polley's Women Talking and Second Runner Up went to Rian Johnson's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The Documentary Award went to Black Ice. 

Over the years, many People's Choice winners, like Slumdog Millionaire and 12 Years a Slave, have gone on to not only be nominated for several Academy Awards, but also to take home the award for Best Picture as well.

Set in post-World War II era Arizona, The Fabelmans stars Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy Fabelman, an 18-year-old who wants to be a filmmaker. Michelle Williams and Paul Dano star as Mr. and Mrs. Fabelman alongside Seth Rogen, Judd Hersch, and Jeannie Berlin. David Lynch makes a cameo as American filmmaker John Ford.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, directed by Eric Appel and co-written with Yankovic, stars Daniel Radcliffe as the titular singer and gives a dramatized, fictionalized account of Yankovic's rise to fame. The 'biopic' is loosely based on the 2010 Funny Or Die sketch of the same name.

The Fabelmans arrives on the big screen on November 23, 2022 in the US, and then January 27, 2023 in the UK. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story hits The Roku Channel, streaming free, on November 4. 

For more, check out the most exciting upcoming movies in 2022 and beyond.

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Lauren Milici
Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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