Mike Flanagan on Adapting Stephen King’s “The Life of Chuck”: ‘This Might Be the Best Movie I Ever Get to Make’

When you hear “Mike Flanagan” and “Stephen King adaptation” in the same breath, you probably imagine a haunted house, a creeping sense of dread, or a ghost lurking behind a closed door. But with #TheLifeofChuck, Flanagan steps away from horror to tell one of the most personal and existentially rich coming of age stories of his career about a man called Charles Krantz.

Adapted from a novella in King’s 2020 novella collection If It Bleeds, The Life of Chuck follows a man’s life in reverse, from death to childhood, examining the joy found in everyday moments. After all, a life lived is best understood backwards.

It’s less about terror and more about time, memory, joy—and how the universe inside us may be the most important one of all. “It was a story about defining and capturing and creating joy.”

“This might be the best movie I ever get to make,” Flanagan recalls after he emailed King after reading his story for the first time.

Read our full interview HERE.