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Exclusive: Cast for indie horror pic If it Bleeds has rounded out, and we have a first-look shot from the set, which you can see above.

Nadia Teichmann (Ice Nine Kills Presents: Welcome to Horrorwood), Russell Todd (Chopping Mall), LeeAnna Vamp (Ghosted), Jose Mangin (Ice Nine Kills: A Work of Art), Elle Fox (Little Bites) and Derek ‘Flash Garments’ Shaw (Lord Have Mercy II) have joined Matthew Hersh’s directorial debut.

The film follows follows genre actor Catherine Corcoran as a young and ambitious news reporter Diane Winters and her cameraman (Justin Miles), who uncover a mysterious series of gruesome murders that unfold throughout the course of a chaotic and violent day, and become players in the sinister situation along the way. Each segment showcases one of the crime scenes and explores horror subgenres along the way.

The “anthology-style” thriller already features the likes of Corcoran, Miles, Doug Jones, Dee Wallace,...

While Stephen King is rightfully known as the Master of Horror, the prolific novelist could just as easily be called the Master of Feels. After all, without King, there is no Stand By Me, no The Shawshank Redemption, no The Green Mile. It makes sense then that Mike Flanagan, whose propensity for combining horror and heartfelt storytelling has made the likes of Midnight Mass and The Haunting Of Hill House unmissable, has proven one of King's best adapters. And having done both Doctor Sleep and Gerald's Game great justice on screen already, Flanagan's latest King movie, Tom Hiddleston starrer The Life Of Chuck, looks set to be one of his most emotional works yet. And you can catch a glimpse at the film below;

Now we know what you're thinking, "This teaser trailer is all tease and no trailer, man!" And you would, largely, be right. But this peek at...

Mike Flanagan has directed a small handful of Stephen King adaptations up this point including Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep, but his next King adaptation is going to offer up something a little bit different. Because The Life of Chuck isn’t a horror movie, and that’s made clear by the brand new official trailer that Neon has released this afternoon.

Neon will release the Flanagan + King collaboration in theaters on June 6, 2025.

Based on Stephen King‘s novella from his 2020 collection If It Bleeds, the upcoming genre-bending movie is written and directed by modern master of horror Mike Flanagan.

The life-affirming story explores three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.

Neon previews, “The film takes on a surrealist and existential tone, telling a genre-bending story that detours from the macabre you’d typically expect from both King and Flanagan’s past works. This...

For the third time in eight years, director Mike Flanagan is adapting Stephen King’s work as a feature film. Flanagan’s first two collaborations with King — Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep — were both horror stories. But The Life of Chuck is something else altogether. The newly released teaser trailer lightly acknowledges that it isn’t a scary story by citing some of King’s previous forays outside of horror, including Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. What it doesn’t answer is the question hanging over the film: Who is Chuck?

Tom Hiddleston plays Chuck as an adult, while Jacob Tremblay and Benjamin Pajak portray younger versions. There is an ominous quality to the trailer, which unfolds to the rhythm of a ticking of a clock. According to the film’s description, “images of a modest accountant named Chuck inexplicably appear everywhere” just as the...

The teaser poster for The Life of Chuck highlights the film’s star-studded cast while asking the all-important question: Who is Chuck?

Find out when the film opens in theaters on June 6 from Neon.

Based on Stephen King‘s novella from his 2020 collection If It Bleeds, it’s written and directed by modern master of horror Mike Flanagan.

The life-affirming, genre-bending story explores three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.

Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Annalise Basso, Benjamin Pajak, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Matthew Lillard, Carl Lumbly, Samantha Sloyan, Harvey Guillen, Jacob Tremblay, Kate Siegel, and Mark Hamill star.

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review out of TIFF, “It’s the little things that matter most, both in life and in The Life of Chuck. Flanagan finds inventive and stylish ways to remind us of this throughout, shaking loose deep-seated memories from Chuck’s upbringing and...

The upcoming film The Life of Chuck (which Neon will be giving a theatrical release on June 6th) is the latest Stephen King adaptation from Mike Flanagan, who has previously been at the helm of the Stephen King adaptations Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep (and is also developing a series adaptation of The Dark Tower for Amazon Studios) – but it is not a horror movie. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray got to see the movie a while back (you can read his 7/10 review Here) and described it as a “bittersweet tearjerker.” We’re still waiting to see a trailer for this one, but today a teaser poster has been unveiled and can be seen at the bottom of this article.

Based on the short story from King’s 2020 anthology If It Bleeds, The Life of Chuck consists of three separate stories linked to tell the biography of Charles Krantz in reverse,...

Stephen King is quite the prolific author. In addition to countless short stories, the man tends to publish at least one book a year, churning out high-quality stories that terrify readers on a regular basis. That's a wealth of tales for Hollywood to adapt, and they have indeed come knocking at King's door many, many times. His stories are the basis for some absolute classic horror films, including "The Shining" and "Misery," but he's also the writer behind the iconic coming-of-age film "Stand By Me."  In the past few years alone, we've gotten great films like "The Boogeyman," "Gerald's Game," "1922," and "Doctor Sleep."

As a result, at any given time, there are tons of King adaptations currently in the works. Some are being planned as films, others as television shows; some of those shows are limited in scope, while others might go on for years. While a handful of...

There was one horror movie that caught the eye of the legendary horror writer, Stephen King, last year. Making all the other horror films jealous, King granted his upmost praise to a unique Shudder horror movie, The Rule of Jenny Pen.

Last year, King took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to sing praises of the unusual story, and urged horror fans to give it a watch. The film stars Geoffrey Rush as a former judge living in a retirement home following a stroke, and John Lithgrow as another resident, a psychopath with a puppet he uses to terrorize other residents.

“I watched one of the best movies I've seen this year. It's called The Rule Of Jenny Pen, and I urge you to watch it when it appears on Shudder. Geoffrey Rush stars, with John Lithgow as a geriatric psychopath with an evil hand puppet.” - King

After a...

Mike Flanagan started his career with a series of horror films before stepping into horror miniseries and Stephen King adaptations. His latest project, The Life of Chuck, was a major success during its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and continues to receive rave reviews.

The movie premiered in September, but it has yet to have a wide release, set to premiere in theaters in May 2025. The movie, which stars Tom Hiddleston as the titular character, has received stunning reviews following its release, marking Flanagan's third King adaptation. In a new interview with Screen Rant, The Life of Chuck actress Molly C. Quinn had nothing but praise for the adaptation.

Related New Stephen King Film From Longlegs Director Teased as 'Hyper Dark' & 'Really Funny,' New Clip Released

Theo James hypes up Oz Perkins’ film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Monkey story, teasing the filmmaker’s incredible vision for the project.

Lower the lights, close the curtains, and leave one headphone halfway off your ear to detect outside noise because Rory Culkin and Paris Jackson will lead the 1990s-set softcore porn comedy Skinemax. The project comes from Adam Sigal, who directs Skinemax from a script he wrote. Production for Skinemax recently wrapped in Budapest, with the film sounding like it could deliver some blush-worthy laughs.

Skinemax focuses on the softcore porn industry in 1990. You know, the decade when adult film icons like Silvia Saint, Asia Carerra, Peter North, and Jack Napier were the kings and queens of fictitious bedroom gymnastics, and adolescents prayed for scrambled channels to display even a single private part long enough to feel as if they’d won the porn lottery. Yeah, that magical time. The film follows Morgan Sands (Culkin), a failing indie film director, and his unlikely friendship with Jessie Hudson (Jackson), a popular adult film star.

Exclusive: Rory Culkin (Lords of Chaos) and Paris Jackson (Gringo) lead the cast of Skinemax, a comedy from writer-director Adam Sigal (Chariot), which has wrapped production in Budapest.

Examining the softcore porn industry of the early 1990s, the film follows Morgan Sands (Culkin), a failing indie film director, and his unlikely friendship with Jessie Hudson (Jackson), a popular adult film star.

Pic’s cast also includes Crispin Glover (Mr. K), Oliver Trevena (Plane), Will Peltz (Unfriended), Mark Boone Jr. (Memento), GaTa (Anyone But You), Jared P-Smith (FBI), Vladislav Lapidus (Dead Man’s Wire), Zac Coats (Crave), Sierra Nowak (Lucifer), and Maren Altman (If It Bleeds).

The film is produced by Jon Wroblewski and Christian Sosa of Roosevelt Film Lab, Trevena of Ollywood Media, and David Treatman of Grapevine Films. Exec producers include Dane and Elizabeth Fiori, Lars and Janice Letonoff, Michael Santos, Christian Sheedy, Dalas Lamberson, Maxwell Johnson of Grapevine, and Andre Champagne of Passcode.

Despite being one of Stephen King's best and most regularly recurring characters, Holly Gibney continues to be controversial among a segment of his fanbase. Holly is soon appearing in another book, Stephen King's upcoming Never Flinch. This has led to mixed reactions from his readership, with some happy to get another crime novel from him, and others rolling their eyes that Holly will pop up in another book.

The reaction isn't surprising. Holly Gibney has been a divisive figure among Stephen King readers. Some love her, others hate her, and others think she's fine but would prefer not to see her so much. There are several reasons for this, but regardless of how people feel, it's clear that Holly is here to stay; Stephen King has said she's one of his favorite characters. While she didn't appear in his most recent book, the collection You Like It Darker, she will be in Never Flinch,...

Stephen King is holding on to his title as the second-most adapted author of all time with yet another adaptation in the works. The highly prolific horror and sci-fi writer has written over 70 novels and novellas and his many titles have been adapted to the big or small screen, some even more than once.

Per Deadline, another one of King's works will be adapted into a feature film: his 1997 short story Autopsy Room Four. The horror maestro has many titles currently in development, both as films or television series, among them The Monkey and The Running Man, and another take on The Dark Tower. Autopsy Room Four will have longtime Stephen King fan director Ranjeet S. Marwa at the helm working with Jon Levin, who will produce.

Related A Criminal Minds Star Headlined This Underrated Stephen King Film That's Coming to Prime Video

One of the most critically panned yet...

Horror legend Stephen King has written a fair few books over the years. Ever since he burst on the scene with "Carrie" in 1974, he's given fans at least one book nearly every year. Since most of his work has been extremely popular, he's also established himself as a bit of an authority on the horror front -- and isn't shy about commenting about either the genre or his craft as a writer.

Thanks to King's status as a horror luminary and extensive work in many other genres, we've analyzed his work many times before. You may have seen us discuss why King's endings have a reputation for being disappointing, look into his biggest career regret involving (of all things) a forgotten TV commercial, and examine the one Stephen King book that will never get a film adaption due to the author voluntarily scrubbing it from his catalog.

However, in order...

Quick Links Most Recent The Life Of Chuck News The Life Of Chuck Release Date The Life Of Chuck Cast The Life Of Chuck Story Details The Life Of Chuck: Further News & Info

The Life of Chuck is the upcoming movie from Mike Flanagan adapting the Stephen King novella of the same name from his 2020 collection If It Bleeds. As the title suggests, the story tells the life of Charles “Chuck” Krantz, a man dying from a brain tumor. The story is told in reverse order, and is definitely among the more experimental of King’s works. Lacking much of King's conventional horror storytelling, The Life of Chuck instead relies on King's amazing work with character.

Mike Flanagan, the horror mastermind behind The Fall of the House of Usher, The Haunting of Hill House, and Midnight Mass is directing the adaptation. The prospect of another Flanagan-directed King adaptation after 2017’s...

The upcoming film from The Haunting of Hill House, Hush, and Oculus director Mike Flanagan has an official release date, Bloody Disgusting reports. The movie, titled The Life of Chuck, is an adaptation of Stephen King's novella of the same name, published in his 2020 collection If It Bleeds, and it will hit theaters via Neon on May 30th, 2025.

The film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024, where it won the prestigious people's choice award. According to TIFF's Jane Schoettle, the plot is as follows:

With 'The Life of Chuck,' Mike Flanagan takes a detour from the macabre to explore one of Stephen King’s alternate sensibilities in an adaptation that carries the spirit of his most optimistic work...

'The Life of Chuck' starts grand and ends intimate, like a setting sun. It’s a 'Stand By Me' for the...

Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep) showcases the more sentimental side of Stephen King with The Life of Chuck, based on the short story from King’s 2020 anthology If It Bleeds. Neon has officially set a release date for the new King adaptation.

The Life of Chuck will be released in theaters on May 30, 2025.

TIFF’s People’s Choice Award winner is split in three separate acts, all linked to tell the biography of Charles Krantz in reverse. “It’s a Stand By Me for the multiple lives within each of us, pulled between our dreams and down-to-earth pragmatism.” Tom Hiddleston plays the title character.

I wrote in my TIFF review, “It’s the little things that matter most, both in life and in The Life of Chuck. Flanagan finds inventive and stylish ways to remind us of this throughout, shaking loose deep-seated memories from Chuck’s upbringing and highlighting...

Even though he only just announced it, it seems all but inevitable that Stephen King's upcoming 2025 book, Never Flinch, will be adapted as a TV series within the next few years. King confirmed Never Flinch will be another crime story, and it's set to be released on May 27, 2025. The announcement also revealed a very familiar face to King's Constant Readers will return: Holly Gibney, the reclusive private investigator with obsessive-compulsive disorder and a savant's memory and knack for pattern recognition.

Outside of Randall Flagg, Holly Gibney has appeared in more separate stories than any Stephen King character. It's a testament to how much King loves the character, considering she only first appeared a decade ago in 2014's Mr. Mercedes. In the years since, she's been a major supporting or main character in five more Stephen King books, not including next year's Never Flinch. With that book's release, it's all...

Stephen King's best book of the 2020s was released earlier in 2024, but one of the prolific author's upcoming stories is poised to be even better. Since his first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, Stephen King's best books have been consistently acclaimed as they cover a wide range of genres and topics. Carrie,The Shining, and It are standout horror novels that have received iconic adaptations that further solidified them as staples of popular culture. King has proven just as adept at writing the multi-genre Dark Tower books and the inspiring novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption."

His works in the past decade have continued to be compelling, including the story of The Institute, which is being adapted into a television series, and the novella "The Life of Chuck," whose movie adaptation won the People's Choice Award at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Kings next book is confirmed to...

Stephen King's next book has been announced and solidifies his biggest universe outside The Dark Tower. Many of Stephen King's best books are among the eight novels in The Dark Tower series, which, despite ending the main story in 2004, expanded in 2012 with The Wind Through the Keyhole, a story that is set between the fourth and fifth installments. While many of King's other books are not directly part of this series, they still connect, including The Stand's connections to The Dark Tower.

While it is not a Dark Tower book, King's next novel, Never Flinch, is set for release on May 27, 2025 (via Entertainment Weekly) and has significant implications for the expansive universes he has created. The upcoming novel follows a murderer fixated on revenge and a vigilante stalking a feminist celebrity speaker. The two stories are separate until they eventually intertwine in the book's thrilling climax. While there are many new characters,...

Stephen King has announced he has a new book coming out next year, Never Flinch, and with it, Holly Gibney is officially established as his counter to Randall Flagg. Never Flinch is being described as another in King's crime stable, featuring two intertwined narratives that come together in the third act. In it, a madman sends a letter to the Buckeye City Police Department, threatening to kill 14 people in what he claims is an act of atonement. With that, Detective Izzy Jaynes turn to her old friend for help: private investigator Holly Gibney.

Holly Gibney is a well-known name to Stephen King's readers, and, thanks to Justine Lupe portraying her in the Mr. Mercedes adaptation, and Cynthia Erivo portraying Holly Gibney in The Outsider miniseries adaptation, she's also a well-known face. Along with those two adaptations, the character's first starring novel, Holly, is also in development as a TV show.

Stephen King has announced he's releasing a new book, Never Flinch, and we already know quite a bit about it, including the release date, story, and even some characters. King is one of the most prolific writers of our era, and while his focus over the years has shifted across multiple genres and between novels, short story collections, and novellas, there is something unmistakable about a Stephen King book, with his relatable characters and lived-in prose. His influence has inspired countless authors, with a new anthology based on Stephen King's The Stand, The End of the World As We Know It, also recently announced.

In recent years, however, King moved to writing non-horror books, turning his attention to the crime thriller, with some of his books in the genre being pure crime, skimming the surface of hardboiled noir, while others have incorporated more of the supernatural element that King is associated with.

Stephen King‘s “Constant Readers” have read about the character Holly Gibney in the pages of his Bill Hodges trilogy, the novel The Outsider, the If It Bleeds short story from the collection of the same name, and his crime novel Holly. Now, Entertainment Weekly has revealed that Holly is also at the heart of his next novel, Never Flinch, which is set to reach store shelves on May 27, 2025.

A couple of years ago, King told The Kingcast hosts Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler, “I could never let Holly Gibney go from the Mr. Mercedes books. I mean, she was supposed to be a walk-on character and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart.” Obviously, Holly still has his heart. He had mentioned last year that he was working on another Holly Gibney book, but at that time he was calling it We Think Not. He...

Matthew Lillard teases his part in Mike Flanagan's first non-horror work, The Life of Chuck. Adapted from Stephen King's 2020 novella If It Bleeds, The Life of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston in the title role along with Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Jacob Tremblay. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6 but has yet to receive a worldwide distribution date. Lillard plays a construction worker who finds peace amid the chaos in a world that is falling apart.

Lillard offers some insight to GamesRadar+ about his minor role. Though Gus only shows up for a five-minute scene, the actor finds the character "beautiful" because Gus "packs a whole fistful of humanity" during his limited appearance, teasing the character's ability to "shift the movie into an emotional place." Lillard reveals that he was attracted to the film because he resonated with the experience of an outcast,...

Stephen King's Bill Hodges Trilogy, "The Outsider," "If It Bleeds," "Holly," and his recently announced novel, "Never Flinch," scheduled for May 27, 2025, all feature one of his most beloved characters: Holly Gibney. Initially intended as a side character in "Mr. Mercedes," Holly "just kind of stole the book and stole my heart" King notes in the blurb for her 2023 solo book. Holly has appeared on screen in TV adaptations of "Mr. Mercedes" and "The Outsider," played by Justine Lupe and Cynthia Erivo, respectively.

We are first introduced to Holly Gibney in "Mr. Mercedes," where we learn that she's a computer whiz and a wallflower, highly intelligent yet a social klutz. She proves to be the perfect partner for retired cop Bill Hodges as they team up to hunt down a psychopathic mass murderer. Over the course of a few years, she gradually blossoms into a strong, capable investigator in her own right.

From Scream to Scooby-Doo to Five Nights at Freddy’s, Matthew Lillard has had a stronghold on burgeoning horror fans for generations. The actor has combined his love for genre storytelling and his appreciation for potent potables with Macabre Spirits.

The horror-themed tequila line is the latest from Find Familiar Spirits, Lillard’s fandom-centric alcohol brand that was founded in 2022. It launched with the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired Quest’s End Whiskey, which itself spawned from Lillards D&d company, Beadle & Grimm’s Pandemonium Warehouse.

Lillard explains, “I have a company called Beadle & Grimm’s with four of my best friends from the acting school I went to for college. We’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons since we were 21, and we started this company that delivers high-end D&d products right to your door.”

Another friend of Lillard’s, Bloodsucking Bastards screenwriter Justin Ware, recognized how Beadle & Grimm’s customer...

Mike Flanagan has one of the most impressive resumes of any horror filmmaker working today. Not even including beloved TV shows like The Haunting Of Hill House, The Haunting Of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, the director/writer/editor is also the brain behind films like Doctor Sleep, Gerald's Game,...

There was some doubt that Salem's Lot would ever see the light of day, but the latest Stephen King adaptation is finally set for release on streaming. Based on the book of the same name, Salem's Lot was initially set to debut back in 2022 before it disappeared from the release schedule. Eventually, the film was given an October 3 release on Max, but that period of limbo led some to question whether Salem's Lot was worth watching. Even King was frustrated with the delays. With the release date drawing near, the film finally has a Rotten Tomatoes score. While that's not the ultimate measure of quality, it's still something that many people consider.

Salem's Lot (2024) 3.5/5

Salem's Lot is a 2024 remake of the movie of the same name released in 1979. The latest adaptation of Stephen King's 1975 novel stars Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, and Bill Camp, with Gary Dauberman writing and directing the Max original film.

Coming off from the success of its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, Mike Flanagans latest Stephen King movie The Life of Chuck officially lands a distributor. The Tom Hiddleston-led movie recently won TIFFs Peoples Choice Award, where it competed against current Oscar frontrunners Emilia Prez and Anora.

Per Deadline, Neon has acquired the theatrical distribution rights to The Life of Chuck, based on Kings 2020 novella which was published as part of the If It Bleeds collection. Neon is reportedly targeting a 2025 release for the acclaimed genre-bending movie. Following its major win at TIFF, Flanagan expressed his gratitude for receiving such a huge honor, revealing that he is overwhelmed by "happiness and gratitude" over the unexpected news. "Im absolutely overwhelmed. Were so grateful that The Life of Chuck connected with audiences in such a powerful way, but never expected this."

Related 'I'm Really Excited': Horror Legend Heather Langenkamp...

Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep) returns to the world of Stephen King with The Life of Chuck, and Variety reports today that Neon (Longlegs) is “closing a distribution deal” to acquire the film in the wake of it winning the People’s Choice Award at TIFF.

Variety speculates, “The film will likely be released in the summer of 2025.”

Tom Hiddleston plays the title character in The Life of Chuck, based on the 2020 Stephen King short story of the same name. The film just World Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival for its 49th edition, running from September 5–15, 2024.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (Rob Peace), Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), Jacob Tremblay (The Toxic Avenger), and Mark Hamill (Star Wars) will also star in the upcoming Stephen King adaptation, alongside Matthew Lillard (Five Nights at Freddy’s) and Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street).

The full cast also features...

“The Life of Chuck” has finally found a home.

According to media reports, the Mike Flanagan adaptation of the Stephen King short story (originally printed in the “If It Bleeds” collection) has been acquired for distribution by Neon. A 2025 release is being planned.

Flanagan also wrote the script for the movie, which stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay and Mark Hamill. The film screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 6 as a special presentation and went on to win the Audience Prize.

The director had previously adapted King for “Doctor Sleep,” a follow-up to “The Shining,” and “Gerald’s Game” for Netflix. He is currently developing an ambitious “Dark Tower” project for Amazon. Our review of “The Life of Chuck” out of Toronto called it Flanagan’s “best film yet,” describing the movie as “magnificent and moving.”

The post ‘The Life of Chuck...

Editors note: Variety ran a story three minutes behind Deadline’s scoop, and then changed their time stamp to 11:53, to appear that they had broken this story. We at Deadline are not here to bend time; it seems enough that our readers who rely on us to break virtually every festival deal story know that the other side fudged it.

Exclusive: The Life of Chuck, the Mike Flanagan-directed genre-bending film that won the Audience Prize at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, is in final talks to be acquired for distribution by Neon, which Deadline hears is eyeing a 2025 release.

Flanagan wrote the script from a Stephen King novella, and the film stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay and Mark Hamill. The Life of Chuck bowed on Friday night, September 6 as a Special Presentation.

Flanagan and cast were there, as was the author.

Over the course of his various projects, Mike Flanagan has built up a stable of talented actors that he calls upon again and again to make his movies and television shows feel like home. The Life of Chuck is no different, with appearances from Oculus' Karen Gillan, The Haunting of Hill House's Kate Siegel, The Haunting of Bly Manor's Rahul Kohli, and Ouija: Origin of Evil's Annalise Basso. But while many of his previous works have dealt with death and the occult from a more depressing lens, his latest effort is nothing short of a celebration of life.

Fresh off its auspicious premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the movie is based on a Stephen King novella that was published in his If It Bleeds collection. Unlike his more widely known horror fare, The Life of Chuck features an ensemble of mostly wholesome individuals who are...

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Mike Flanagan may be best known for his hit Netflix shows about generational trauma, especially The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, but The Life of Chuck is gearing up to make him everyone's favorite Stephen King collaborator. Doctor Sleep, his first attempt at adapting the King for the big screen, was not as financially successful as one might have hoped Annalise Basso but it certainly established their shared affinity for tragedy, horror, and humanity. Flanagan's latest effort is based on one of the novellas in If It Bleeds, and is perhaps one of his most ambitious projects yet.

The Life of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston as the eponymous protagonist, Charles Krantz, whose life is documented in three acts told in non-chronological order. The narrative is so coiled that the movie begins with a man named Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) experiencing...

A recently released adaptation of one of famed horror author Stephen King's novellas may just be the project to break a disappointing 25-year-long streak for the writer. Since the publication of his 1974 novel, Carrie, Stephen King has been at the very center of horror writing. King's books and short stories have captured the minds of millions of readers, and unsurprisingly, a lot of these tales have been adapted to the screen. In fact, some of them have been adapted more than once. However, despite King's sterling reputation, not all of his adaptations have been wild successes.

Among King's catalog of over 70 novels and 200 short stories, some titles stand out more than others. For example, books like Misery, The Shining, and The Green Mile are likely familiar to most audiences. This is because these King stories were adapted into incredible movie adaptations, becoming so well-received that they were nominated for the highest accolades in Hollywood.

While Stephen King is known as the King of Horror, he has produced masterpieces when he deviated from his usual genre. Examples of such works include The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. Now, King’s sci-fi novella, The Life of Chuck, from his collection If It Bleeds is adapted into a film, that debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival.

A still from The Life of Chuck | Credit: Intrepid Pictures

The film, helmed by Mike Flanagan, was awarded the People’s Choice Award at the TIFF. The recognition has great significance for the film as fifteen of the last sixteen winners have been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The Life of Chuck will probably follow suit and earn a Best Picture nod at the Oscars.

Stephen King’s Adaptation, The Life Of Chuck, Now Has A Greater Chance At Oscars Tom Hiddleston in the film adaptation...

Its no secret that Hollywoods batting average in adapting Stephen King stories for the big and small screen has been very hit or miss. It's been half a century of King films, and the see-saw has dipped down and lifted again like a frenetic yoyo from Brian De Palma's bar-setting Carrie in 1976 to the diminishing returns of the now 11 Children of the Corn movies. Based on the story of the same name from Stephen Kings 2020 novella If It Bleeds, Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck doesnt run into any cursed adaptation headwinds whatsoever.

Flanagan's already familiar with Kings style; his last two features were 2017s Geralds Game and 2019s Doctor Sleep stories where Flanagan honors the source material's spirit while still putting his signature on them. In between his many Netflix series, Flanagan has created a triptych of very emotional Stephen King adaptations, with The Life of Chuck being the best yet.

The latest Stephen King adaptation, The Life of Chuck starring Tom Hiddleston, cleaned up at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, directed by horror icon Mike Flanagan, came home with the People's Choice Award at TIFF, a win that came as a surprise to many. Bringing home this award could be a good sign of things to come for Flanagan and his crew. American Fiction was the winner in 2023 with The Holdovers named the runner-up two movies that ended up becoming Best Picture nominees.

The Life of Chuck Not Yet Rated

A life-affirming, genre-bending story based on Stephen King's novella about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.

Release Date September 6, 2024Director Mike FlanaganCast David Dastmalchian, Karen Gillan, matthew lillard, Mia Sara, Rahul Kohli, Molly C. Quinn, Mark Hamill, Tom Hiddleston

King adaptations have been very hit or miss over the years. On one side of the coin,...

The Life of Chuck was a novella first published in Stephen King's collection "If It Bleeds," and, if there was a stand-out, it was the story that caught filmmaker Mike Flanagan's attention. The story shares the best quality of King's work, tackling some heavy subject matter with a whole lot of heart. Now, Flanagan's film adaptation has premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, and pulled in some strong reviews as a result.

Vanity Fair spoke with Flanagan and lead star Tom Hiddleston at the TIFF, and both believe that the new adaptation is something special, but also something very different to the usual kind of movies associated with one of the world's greatest living writers. And, given the cast's comments on it in the past few months (including A Nightmare on Elm Street's Heather Langenkamp), it's easy to believe them. In Hiddleston's words:

Well,...

Mike Flanagan is not just one of our modern horror masters, but he's proved to be one of the very best there is at adapting Stephen King's work for the screen. Between "Gerald's Game" and "Doctor Sleep," he's done the unthinkable not once, but twice. Two of the least-adaptable King novels were brought to life in brilliant fashion. Now, Flanagan is back with another King movie in the form of "The Life of Chuck," which is earning rave reviews on the festival circuit. However, it turns out Flanagan almost lost that opportunity thanks to his currently gestating adaptation of "The Dark Tower."

King's "The Dark Tower" series is his magnum opus, consisting of multiple novels spread out over decades. Flanagan is now working on adapting those books into a show. That's great news for fans of King's work. However, as the filmmaker recently noted in an interview with Vanity Fair,...

Mike Flanagan has been behind many successful projects, some of them adaptations of famous classic works like The Haunting of Hill House Netflix show or 2019's Doctor Sleep. A self-proclaimed Stephen King fan, the filmmaker tackled several projects based on King's work, the latest being The Life of Chuck, which he proudly calls his best work ever.

The Life of Chuck adapts the novella from the 2020 collection If It Bleeds, putting Tom Hiddleston in the spotlight as the titular character. The novella follows the eponymous character's life in reverse in three acts. Flanagan wrote and produced the film with Trevor Macy through their Intrepid Pictures banner, and is very proud of the result, and confirmed to Collider he thinks it's the best movie he's done.

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A departure from their characteristic genre,...

The Life of Chuck has debuted on Rotten Tomatoes, and it marks the best Stephen King adaptation score since 2017. Direected by Mike Flanagan, who is best known for projects like The Haunting of Hill House (2018), Doctor Sleep (2019), and Midnight Mass (2021),The Life of Chuck is based on King's novella of the same featured in his If It Bleeds collection from 2020. The upcoming film stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles Krantz with a story that chronicles three distinct chapters in his life.

Following its premiere at TIFF, The Life of Chuck has now debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 85% with 20 reviews. This score is sure to fluctuate as more reviews are added, but this currently makes it the highest scoring King adaptation since 1922 (2017), which sports an impressive 92% score. Check out the chart below to see how The Life of Chuck stacks up against other recent adaptations of King's work:

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Filmmaker Mike Flanagan has several exciting upcoming projects. His deal with Netflix ended with the miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher, based on Edgar Allan Poe's gothic short story of the same name. Deadline reported that Flanagan signed on with Amazon Studios at the end of 2022, meaning he'll be working on producing projects for Prime Video for the foreseeable future. There's already a lot of buzz and excitement surrounding that prospect and his work for the platform will undoubtedly prove popular after his tenure with Netflix.

At the moment, Flanagan is slated to helm three movies and a TV series in the future. The possibilities regarding all four projects are endless, and Flanagan himself has discussed them several times publicly. Although every detail about Flanagan's upcoming projects isn't known, Flanagan recently signed on to take over the Exorcist franchise.

It comes as no surprise that reigning scare-meister Mike Flanagan has a soft spot for Stephen King, having successfully adapted Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep for the big screen. But his latest stab at King, the genre-warping The Life of Chuck, makes for an oddball if less ideal fit.

A hopeful take on the end of days, unfolding in reverse chronological order, the quirky novella appeared in King’s 2020 collection If It Bleeds. Flanagan, who had been sent an advance copy at the onset of the Covid lockdown, was deeply moved by the underlying message of learning to hold onto precious moments in the face of adversity.

But although the resulting feature, which held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival with the author in attendance, delivers the uplifting goods, it does so at the cost of an initially darkly intriguing premise that grows more diluted and precarious as it moves along — or,...

The Life of Chuck has premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and has proven to be a hit with the critics. So far, the film doesn't have many reviews but they were enough to set an exciting score that keeps up with Mike Flanagan's perfect Rotten Tomatoes streak.

After several months of teasing, The Life of Chuck has finally had its premiere at TIFF and the first reviews are in. The Life of Chuck has a score of 80% out of 10 reviews. This means the film meets the criteria of being considered fresh, and, if it remains 75% or above, it will receive the Certified Fresh status. At the same time, The Life of Chuck is a major success for Flanagan too, as he continues his impeccable streak of only "fresh" or Certified Fresh titles.

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Filmmaker Mike Flanagan...

Mike Flanagan can’t help but keep coming back to Stephen King. His latest film, “The Life of Chuck,” is his third adaptation of literary work from the famed author. But unlike “Gerald’s Game” or “Doctor Sleep,” this one isn’t a horror film at all.

“The thing about Stephen King is that he’s known for horror, but his horror only works because of his incredible empathy for his characters. And when you read a great Stephen King story, it’s not about the monster, it’s about the people who have to deal with it or stand against it,” Flanagan told TheWrap editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman at TheWrap’s 2024 TIFF Studio sponsored by Moët & Chandon and Boss Design.

Based on a short story in the 2020 book “If It Bleeds,” “The Life of Chuck” is a film told in reverse order about the life of an accountant named Chuck Krantz,...

The Life of Chuck features a wide-ranging cast full of familiar faces. The project is an adaptation of the Stephen King novella published as part of the 2020 collection If It Bleeds, composed of the achronological stories "Thanks, Chuck," "Buskers," and "I Contain Multitudes." The movie was written and directed by Mike Flanagan, who has previously helmed the Stephen King movie adaptations Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep and has also acquired the rights to develop a television series based on The Dark Tower as of late 2022.

Mike Flanagan is a director who has become known for having a stable of actors with whom he frequently collaborates across a variety of projects, bringing stars back to play different characters in different contexts. The upcoming The Life of Chuck sees him following this habit, as it features more than a dozen memorable stars with whom he has worked before. However, the movie, which...

Midway through its runtime, Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck” introduces a mantra of sorts, via a line of dialogue pulled from Stephen King’s eponymous story: “Would answers make a good thing better?” The implication therein is an emphatic “No,” which suits “The Haunting of Bly Manor” creator’s esoteric (and esoterically structured) drama on embracing life, death and cosmic mysteries. However, it also ends up proving this point in all the wrong ways, swerving in and out of a boorish literalism that robs the film of its most euphoric power.

Like King’s story — one of four novellas collected in the book “If It Bleeds” — “The Life of Chuck” is divided into three acts depicted in reverse, each narrated by Nick Offerman. It kicks off with “Act Three,” which tells of the world falling apart from the perspective of a small American town. The internet has been on the fritz for months,...

Oculus director and Hollywood icon Mike Flanagan opens up about the lack of a follow-up to the 2013 hit horror film.

Speaking to ScreenRant, Flanagan responded to the question of whether an Oculus 2 might be in the film maker's future by stating that he "has a lot of stories" set in the same universe that he would "love to tell," yet the question of the rights to the original film are a major hurdle to overcome. "We'd have to untangle who owns Oculus 2," Flanagan explained. "I think that would be the thing. I don't know what the rights situation is for that."

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"All to say, though, there were always a lot of stories with that I'd love to tell,...

As the season of Autumn arrives, it's the perfect time for a Stephen King and Mike Flanagan collaboration to hit pop culture -- both are famous for their spooky and dreary repertoire, with horror classics like Carrie and The Haunting of Hill House, yet are also known to deviate from the genre from time to time. The two come together to deliver a drama that still has a haunted, sentimental feeling -- and audiences already feel strongly about it.

The Life of Chuck recently premiered at the famous 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, on Friday, September 6th to an outpouring of positive responses. Brian Rowe of GoldDerby gushed about it on X: "The Life of Chuck is a total original, one of Mike Flanagans most unique projects to date that works like an anthology film. The first two stories are good but the final longer story is bliss, a coming-of-age gem...