The Stephen King Upcoming Movie We’re Most Excited For Shares The Best News Possible
Mike Flanagan, the director behind Stephen King’s newest film adaptation, has just shared on X that The Life of Chuck has officially wrapped. The movie is based on one of the short stories in King’s If It Bleeds novella. The film comprises three distinct narratives intricately connected to describe the reverse biography of Charles Krantz, beginning with his death and ending with his childhood.
“This has been a tenacious little miracle of a movie,” Flanagan said in his post, reflecting on the time spent filming The Life of Chuck. He went on to describe what the film meant to him and thanked the cast, crew, and Stephen King for working with him to get the movie made.
The Life of Chuck is produced by Intrepid Pictures and QWGmire, making the film truly independent, something that made the film extra special to Flanagan. “It fed my soul to be back in the indie world where I started,” the director said before commenting on how the Stephen King adaptation was filmed in Alabama where many of Flanagan’s previous pictures, including Oculus, Before I Wake, Hush, and Gerald’s Game were also shot.
The famed horror director spared no compliments when it came to praising the cast and crew, saying The Life of Chuck was unlike anything he’d ever made or will likely ever make again in his career. “Our cast was an embarrassment of riches,” Flanagan said and he was not exaggerating. The newest Stephen King movie features a large ensemble cast, led by two of Hollywood’s most elite: Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill.
Flanagan went on to thank the production studios involved with the creation of The Life of Chuck and tagged Stephen King as well. Clearly overjoyed at the completion of the project, Flanagan commented on how the film was one for his legacy and one he was glad to leave behind for his kids.
To wrap up the post Flanagan mentioned how he is on his way back to Los Angeles from Alabama with another long journey ahead of him: trying to convince people The Life of Chuck is not a horror movie. After all, with Flanagan at the helm and based on a Stephen King novel, what else would people expect it to be? However, the upcoming feature is, in fact, not a spooky story, but simply a drama about a man.
The storytelling for The Life of Chuck unfolds in reverse chronological order, starting with Chuck’s demise at 39 due to a brain tumor and concluding with his early years in a house believed to be haunted. It’s one of four short stories in Stephen King’s previously unpublished collection of novellas that were finally released in 2020 in a book called If It Bleeds. The other stories in the collection, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone,” “If It Bleeds”, and “Rat,” will likely not be included in the movie.
Since it’s not a horror movie, The Life of Chuck is more likely to fall in line with the tone of Stephen King’s other non-horror stories, like Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. The filming for this feature saw a quick turnaround, beginning in October during the SAG-AFTRA strikes (under an interim agreement) and concluding on November 17. No release date is yet set, but with filming completed, it will likely be sometime in 2024.
