Stephen King books have been the source of many classic movies, including Carrie, The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and IT. The 2025 new movie The Life of Chuck gives one of King’s more recent works its time on the big screen.
Published in 2020 as part of a set of stories entitled If It Bleeds, The Life of Chuck brings the author’s unique perspective into the life of an ordinary man. Of course, with King, we should expect some extraordinary things to be a part of the story.
Find out more about The Life of Chuck, from its release date to its cast, directly below.
The Life of Chuck release date
The Life of Chuck is releasing exclusively in movie theaters on June 6. The movie will open in select cities on June 6 before expanding everywhere on June 13; a bit of counter-programming to the traditional summer blockbusters.
The Life of Chuck will come a little bit later in the UK, releasing on August 22.
The Life of Chuck cast
Tom Hiddleston stars as the titular Chuck Krantz in The Life of Chuck. Hiddleston is best known for his time playing Loki in the MCU and the Disney Plus original series Loki. This is actually his first on-screen starring role not in a Marvel movie since 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, though he did lend his voice to the claymation movie Early Man and starred in the TV series The Essex Serpent between then and now.
Joining Hiddleston in the movie are Matthew Lillard (Five Nights at Freddy’s), Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy), David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad), Annalise Basso (Snowpiercer), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy), Kate Siegel (The Fall of the House of Usher), Mia Sara (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Samantha Sloyan (The Pitt), Nick Offerman (Civil War), Carl Lumbly (Captain America: Brave New World), Rahul Kohli (The Electric State), Harvey Guillen (Companion), Jacob Tremblay (Luca) and Mark Hamill (Star Wars).
The Life of Chuck plot
Mike Flanagan adapted King’s work for The Life of Chuck script. Here is the synopsis:
“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.”
The Life of Chuck trailer
Check out the trailers for The Life of Chuck right here:
The Life of Chuck reviews
Having screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024, a number of critics have already weighed in on the movie. As of April 15, The Life of Chuck is "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes.
Mike Flanagan movies
Flanagan is no stranger to King’s work, as he has directed a number of movies two previous movies based on the acclaimed author’s work, Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep. Many will also know Flanagan from TV, where he’s been more prolific in recent years with The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club and The Fall of the House of Usher.
But if you’re curious about his movie resume, here are all the movies he has directed in his career to date:
- Absentia (2011)
- Oculus (2013)
- Hush (2016)
- Before I Wake (2016)
- Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
- Gerald’s Game (2017)
- Doctor Sleep (2019)
The Life of Chuck behind the scenes
Neon, the distributor behind recent Best Picture winner Anora, is releasing The Life of Chuck in the US. The movie’s production companies are Intrepid Pictures, Red Room Pictures and QWGmire.
Producers on the movie are Flanagan and Trevor Macy.
