Stephen King contains multitudes. Many try to put his work in a box, as he is certainly best known for his contributions to the world of horror fiction (including classics like Carrie, The Shining, Cujo and IT), but his vast bibliography includes works that can be categorized in a wide variety of genres. It's a war against labeling that King has been fighting almost his entire career – he loves to tell a story about a woman who didn't believe he wrote The Shawshank Redemption – and it now has a new front with Mike Flanagan's The Life Of Chuck set to arrive in theaters everywhere this summer.
The upcoming Stephen King movie debuted its first teaser trailer this morning, and while it doesn't provide audiences with a deep sense of what they can expect from the story, it does aim to introduce the tone of the work – with a big element being titles of comparable adaptations. While this is Flanagan's third movie based on a King book, it's notable that you won't see the titles Gerald's Game or Doctor Sleep anywhere in the 78-second clip. Instead, the folks at Neon want to make sure you're thinking about The Life Of Chuck as being more in line with dramatic modern classics like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and Stand By Me.
Based on the novella that was published in the 2020 collection If It Bleeds, The Life Of Chuck is a somewhat complicated story to describe – which is why it's probably good that the marketing campaign is starting off by simply establishing the film's mood. The narrative unfolds in three parts that are all linked by the existence of a man named Charles Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). The first part is a depiction of a slow apocalypse that sees the world decorated with strange advertising depicting Charles and featuring messaging that says “Charles Krantz: 39 Great Years! Thanks, Chuck!”
The second part depicts what seems like an ordinary day in the life of Charles Krantz, but that's before he gets caught up in the beat of a busker drummer and begins dancing in a public square with a beautiful stranger (Annalise Basso).
In the third and final part, we witness Charles coming-of-age as a boy – living with his grandparents (Mark Hamill, Mia Sara) and discovering both his personal love of dance and the fragility of life.
All of Mike Flanagan's projects are outfitted with outrageously talented casts, and as the Life Of Chuck trailer boasts, this film is no different. In addition to the aforementioned Tom Hiddleston, Annalise Basso, Mark Hamill and Mia Sara, the movie also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Jacob Tremblay, Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, Carl Lumbly, and Matthew Lillard. The feature had its world premiere last year at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the coveted People's Choice Award. I had a chance to personally see it last fall during the Canadian event, and I was wowed to the point of declaring it one of the best Stephen King movies of all time with zero hesitation.
The Life Of Chuck will be in theaters everywhere this June (a more specific release date has not yet been announced).
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