The Life Of Chuck: Everything we know about Mike Flanagan's upcoming sci-fi drama adaptation starring Tom Hiddleston

Filmmaker Mike Flanagan returns with his new directorial this year, titled The Life of Chuck. The film is a sci-fi drama adaptated from the eponymous Stephen King story. After its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the film is scheduled for a theatrical release on June 6, 2025 in the United States.

Flanagan has a huge fan base, chiefly among horror buffs, for directing films such as Absentia, Oculus, Gerald's Game, and Doctor Sleep, besides executive-producing TV series such as The Fall of the House of Usher, Midnight Mass, and The Haunting of Hill House. His works are loved by critics and audiences alike for the way he delivers clever thrills, and his upcoming film is expected to do the same. The official IMDb logline of The Life of Chuck reads:

A life-affirming, genre-bending story based on Stephen King's novella about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.

Tom Hiddleston leads the film as Charles Krantz. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Mark Hamill essay key roles while Nick Offerman is The Narrator.

When will Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck be released?

Before its June 6, 2025 theatrical release, The Life of Chuck was screened at TIFF in September 2024. Besides praise, the film also won the People's Choice Award at the coveted film festival.

The film was then acquired by Neon, the studio behind films like Anora (2024), Parasite (2019), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), and Triangle of Sadness (2022). Neon had also led the buzzy marketing campaign for Nicolas Cage's Longlegs, which proved to be a box office hit.

Mike Flanagan new film is the latest Stephen King adaptation for screen to be backed by Neon, after Oz Perkins' upcoming The Monkey, also adapted from one of the bestselling horror author's stories.

What is the plot of The Life of Chuck?

The Life of Chuck is a science-fiction drama adapted from a Stephen King story. The IMDb logline doesn't reveal any specific details besides the central character's name, Charles Krantz, besides the narrative structure with three chapters.

Going by the source material, The Life of Chuck will follow Charles' journey in reverse order, showing him revisiting his past and his childhood. The film's official summary for TIFF reveals that Charles, or Chuck, is an accountant who feels like his world is ending.

The film will be Mike Flanagan's third adaptation of a Stephen King story after Doctor Sleep (2019) and Gerald's Game (2017). However, unlike those two films, the upcoming sci-fi project will depart in terms of tone. The Life Of Chuck won't be an out-an-out horror film but a drama with dark themes.

Who is in the cast of The Life of Chuck?

The Life of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston in the lead role of Charles Krantz, or Chuck, along with the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mike Hamill, and Nick Offerman.

Ejiofor plays Marty Anderson, who finds his life suddenly intertwined with Chuck's. Gillan plays Marty's ex-wife, Felicia Gordon, while Hamill stars as Chuck's grandfather, Albie. Nick Offerman is The Narrator, while Jacob Tremblay plays a younger version of Hiddleston's character.

The supporting cast shows Flanagan will be reuniting with actors such as Kate Siegel and Rahul Kohli, with whom he has often worked.