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 fresh faces and returning Mike Flanagan regulars including…
Mia Sara, Benjamin Pajak, Trinity Jo-li Bliss, Q’Orianka Kilcher, Antonio Raul Corbo, Harvey Guillen, David Dastmalchian, Kate Siegel, Carl Lumbly, Annalise Basso, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Matt Biedel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Michael Trucco, Violet McGraw and Molly C. Quinn.
Flanagan also wrote the script and produces through Intrepid Pictures.
Based on the short story from King’s 2020 anthology If It Bleeds, The Life of Chuck is three separate stories linked to tell the biography of Charles Krantz in reverse, beginning with his death from a brain tumor at 39 and ending with his childhood in a supposedly haunted house.