The Toronto International Film Festival will honour late Canadian icon John Candy on the opening night of its 50th edition. The festival announced today that the documentary John Candy: I Like Me will have its world premiere as the opening night gala when TIFF kicks off its milestone event on September 4 at Roy Thompson Hall. The documentary is directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds. The film chronicles the heart and humour of a career that spanned beloved films including Uncle Buck, Cool Runnings, Spaceballs, and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles before Candy’s death in 1994.
“Comedy fans all over the world grew up on John Candy’s humour,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF, in a statement from the festival. “We love that John’s global career started in Toronto, and we can’t wait to share John Candy: I Like Me with everyone at this year’s Opening Night Gala premiere. Colin Hanks has made a hugely entertaining film packed with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but like John, this movie is all heart. For us, it’s the perfect way to kick off TIFF’s 50th edition.”
“When you hear the name John Candy, your face lights up,” added Hanks and Reynolds in a joint statement. “He wasn’t just a great actor; he was an even better person. People loved his everyman qualities, but they didn’t know how relatable John really was. He went through the same struggles we all do, except now we talk about them. We are incredibly honoured to have gotten to know the man better through this process and to bring the real John Candy to audiences starting with his hometown of Toronto.”
John Candy: I Like Me marks a rare case of TIFF opening with a documentary. The first doc to get the honour was the 2011 U2 film From the Sky Down, directed by Davis Guggenheim. The 2019 fest kicked off with the Canadian doc Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band, directed by Toronto’s Daniel Roher, who went on to win an Oscar for Navalny. In 2020, the festival kicked off its first COVID-era hybrid event with Spike Lee’s David Byrne doc American Utopia. The selection, however, comes amid concerns that celebrity profiles are inundating the documentary field.
Hanks previously directed the feature documentaries All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records (2015) and Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (2017). This marks his first time debuting a film in Toronto as a director. Colin’s father Tom Hanks starred with Candy in films including Splash (1984) and Volunteers (1985).
John Candy: I Like Me will screen in TIFF’s Galas line-up. The Amazon-MGM production will stream on Prime Video later this year.
TIFF runs September 4 to 14. Additional titles will be announced leading up to the festival.
