There are a lot of upcoming Stephen King movies on the way in the next year, and while the adaptations of his more popular novels like The Long Walk and The Running Man are sure to create a lot of buzz, the next release is a more underrated story of his. Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck movie comes out next week, and Stephen King has just shared his own thoughts on his 2020 novella now being a movie.
While Stephen King is, of course, best known for his work in the horror genre, The Life Of Chuck is not that. It’s described as a “life-affirming” science fiction drama that CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg called “one of the best Stephen King movies of all time.” Here’s what King recently said about the Tom Hiddleston-led movie:
It’s a wonderful movie. I don’t know if it will do any business or not. I don’t know if people are in the mood for that sort of warm-hearted thing. It’s not what I would call syrupy and sentimental because it does have an acknowledgment that life can be very, very difficult. But Hiddleston did a great job as Chuck. I love that movie.
The Life Of Chuck was written/directed by Mike Flanagan, who previously adapted King’s sequel to The Shining with 2019’s Doctor Sleep, as well as Gerald’s Game, along with making some of the best horror TV shows in recent years like The Haunting Of Hill House and Midnight Mass. King shared to Toronto Star that he has appreciated Flanagan’s take on his works thus far, and The Life Is Chuck is another great addition. You can check out The Life Of Chuck trailer below:
Both the movie and the novella follows an ordinary guy named Charles “Chuck” Krantz across three chapters of his life. King shared that he feels “joy is a valid part of the human experience,” and wanted to infuse that in the story after much of his stories tackle things like “existential dread, grief, woe.” Though I haven’t seen it, these comments make me more interested in seeing a modern King movie that’s more of a heartwarming drama than a scary movie. I’m also curious if the author is worried about the movie’s viability and his take on audiences perhaps not turning out for a story of his that’s not horror-related.
Even though King shared he loves the movie, pointing out Hiddleston’s “great” performance at the same time, it sounds like he’s not sure if audiences will turn out for a “warm-hearted thing.” Now, it should be noted that past King stories that are not horror have been turned into movies. For example, there’s 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption, which is thought of as one of the best movies ever made. There’s also 1999’s The Green Mile.
Stephen King might have a point considering Shawshank famously didn’t do well at the box office initially (making just $16 million against a $25 million budget). However, The Green Mile, starring Tom Hanks, made much better business with over $286 million worldwide against a $60 million budget. We’ll have to see how The Life Of Chuck does when it comes to theaters on June 6!