Thanks to our fine friends at NEON, Bloody Disgusting and The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast are inviting you to celebrate The Life of Chuck this Mother’s Day. Mike Flanagan’s highly anticipated Stephen King adaptation doesn’t hit theaters until June 6th, making this quite an early sweet treat for Constant Readers and cinephiles everywhere.
The special engagement goes down this Sunday, May 11th — again, Mother’s Day — at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre. The screening starts at 2:00 PM, but you’ll want to arrive early as seats aren’t guaranteed. This is first come, first serve, and no cathartic dancing on the street will get you extra points (though, you can certainly try).
RSVP here and plan accordingly. But remember, if you have heart, you have hope.
The second King adaptation from Neon this year following Osgood Perkins’ blockbuster affair with The Monkey, The Life of Chuck explores the lighter side of King. You know, the voice that delivered works that went on to inspire crowd favorites like 1986’s Stand By Me, 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption, 1999’s The Green Mile, and 2016’s 11.22.63.
Flanagan’s third slice of King following 2017’s Gerald’s Game and 2019’s Doctor Sleep celebrates the life of Charles ‘Chuck’ Krantz as he experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.
Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay, and Benjamin Pajak each play the titular character at different points in his life.
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Annalise Basso, Mia Sara, Matthew Lillard, Carl Lumbly, Samantha Sloyan, Harvey Guillen, Kate Siegel, and Mark Hamill co-star.
The ensemble also includes Heather Langenkamp, Rahul Kohli, David Dastmalchian, Violet McGraw, Hamish Linklater, Lauren LaVera, and Nick Offerman as the narrator.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her review out of TIFF, “It’s the little things that matter most, both in life and in The Life of Chuck. Flanagan finds inventive and stylish ways to remind us of this throughout, shaking loose deep-seated memories from Chuck’s upbringing and highlighting the way small choices or unobtrusive memories can create a lasting ripple effect throughout the years.”
The Life of Chuck marks Flanagan’s third King adaptation, following Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep. He’s also in pre-production on a “Carrie” series and developing a Dark Tower series.