The Fall of the House of Usher was filmmaker Mike Flanagan's most recent success on Netflix, but he's far from being done. His next project is already decided upon, and we've got everything you need to know about the upcoming "Life of Chuck."
The one and only Mike Flanagan: the master of all horrors. Not only with The Fall of the House of Usher, but also with hit shows like The Haunting of Hill House (lots of haunted houses there), he's one of the biggest names when it comes to thrilling ghost stories.
The Fall of the House of Usher was an adaptation from Edgar Allan Poe, but Flanagan's next project tackles the work of a different famous writer. This time, it's Stephen King's short story "The Life of Chuck" that Flanagan is using as inspiration. While a release date is yet to be announced, there is still some exciting news to share.
When Is The Life of Chuck Going To Come Out?
We've got a pretty good timeline of the production process so far. Back in November 2023, we got the news that the movie wrapped up filming:
That's a wrap on THE LIFE OF CHUCK. This has been a tenacious little miracle of a movie from the start & I'm forever indebted to this wonderful cast and crew. This film is deeply special to me, and I'm elated that it's going to exist in the world. pic.twitter.com/vnWnuMrOpC
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 17, 2023
In his Twitter/X thread, Flanagan shared his love for this project. "THE LIFE OF CHUCK is the movie I want to leave in the world for my kids." Promises to be a bit more joyful than other Flanagan works, doesn't it?
But that's not all: at the end of April, Flanagan shared on Letterboxd that post production is also done. That means The Life of Chuck will probably hit our screens in 2024 – we're guessing it's going to be a fall release.
Flanagan's "The Life of Chuck" Has Big Names To It Already
As if legends like Mike Flanagan and Stephen King weren't enough, the cast is full of big names as well. Some of them are trusty companions of Flanagan's and have been in his other works already, but a first-timer under the director's wing will be Tom Hiddleston.
Hiddleston plays the guy with a life, Charles "Chuck" Krantz himself. He's joined by Mark Hamill who will portray Albie, as well as Kate Siegel and Rahul Kohli – all three of them have starred together in The Fall of the House of Usher, and Rahul Kohli is now a familiar face for Flanagan fans.
And that's not the only kinda-crossover, with Karen Gillan, Chiwetel Ejiofor and David Dastmalchian joining the cast as well (all three have appeared alongside Hiddleston in the MCU).
What Is The Life of Chuck About?
The Life of Chuck is a short story, told in three acts, from Stephen King's collection If It Bleeds .
At the beginning, Chuck appears to be an unremarkable man. He's an advertising executive and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary in his life. That is, until the world around him starts to break down.
In true Stephen King's fashion, everything is a little bit weird – what the hell does Chuck have to do with the world falling apart and the apocalypse breaking out, if he's just some ordinary guy? The story even starts with him dying! And yet, it's not supposed to be a horror movie?
Looks like audiences will have to be patient – or scroll way down to read about the whole story, if you're not afraid of spoilers, but one thing after another.
The Twist Of The Life of Chuck
BIG SPOILER ALERT! If you don't want to know the twist of the story, kindly click away – I'm not here to take the fun out of it for you! If you're too curious, don't say I didn't warn you!
There are different interpretations of the story, but the general consensus is that Chuck is ordinary. There is nothing supernatural going on, even with the whole world ending. It's only Chuck's world that ends, it's Chuck's world that stops existing under the normal laws of physics, and only in Chuck's ending world the things that happen actually happen. As his body stops working, so does the world.
Basically, The Life of Chuck is one of those stories that leave you sitting in your reading chair, thinking over what you just read. Ultimately, it's a story about mortality and interconnectedness, with ol' ordinary Chuck as the embodiment of the idea that every life, no matter how "trivial" in the big picture, holds significance.
39 great years! Thanks, Chuck!