Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for The Life of Chuck by Stephen King!
Summary
Mike Flanagan reveals one major change coming to his adaptation of Stephen King’s storyThe Life of Chuck, explaining why he chose to alter one particular part of the story. The novella, part of King’s 2020 collectionIf It Bleeds, follows the story of its titular character told backwards, from the moment of his death to when he was a child in a seemingly haunted house. TheupcomingThe Life of Chuckmovieaims to maintain faithfulness to the original story, indicative of what to expect from the horror filmmaker’s adaptation.
However, speaking withTalking Scared, Flanagan revealed that one key change inThe Life of Chuckhas to do with the people in Chuck’s head who are facing the end of the world. When asked about Chuck’s imagination and its impact on the story, the horror filmmaker explains how, instead of being random, fictional people in his mind,the movie will see these figures as representing real people the main character meets throughout his life.Check out what Flanagan had to say about this significant change below:
I don’t think it does. And I felt that way on both sides of it, because when you’re first watching the movie, you don’t necessarily know that. That’s a revelation, if you’ve not read the story, the movie will reveal that to you in time. But if you do know that, I don’t think it changes it at all, because the emotions the characters are going through are so honest and relateable. And we’ve made a couple little clever changes to kind of make it so that these characters don’t only exist in this imagined realm. That they’re all echoes of very real people who existed in the real world who Chuck encountered throughout his life.
That’s one of the big changes we made to this story was that the people you meet at the beginning, you see them again as Chuck encounters them throughout his life, and you may see how and why he pulled them into his imagination, and how they continue to exist in his mind even after the real people have moved on, in one way or another. And so that’s one of the very few changes we made for the film. It seemed like a real cool opportunity to do something like that.
Why Flanagan’s Life Of Chuck Change Is Perfect For The Big Screen
Flanagan Is The Perfect Director For The King Adaptation
In King’s original version ofThe Life of Chuck,part of the story involves an imaginary character named Marty, whose perspective becomes the one the audience follows as his world comes to an end. At first, it’s unclear that this is part of Chuck’s fantasy world, later revealed to be so as the story progresses. While this level of mystery is still going to be present in Flanagan’s adaptation, it’s clear from his plans that his take will blend reality and fiction much more closely than the original novella did.
Despite this change for the adaptation,the director’s alteration of what Chuck’s imaginary world means will work perfectly for its big screen rendition.Flanagan’s movies and TV showshave always toyed with the idea of reality and fantasy blending together, with characters who consistently embody both notions of their respective stories. Having the imaginary world reflect reality maintains consistency with his other work, while also giving King’s story an added layer of meaning onscreen.
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This reflection of reality also adds a new layer of mystery depending on howThe Life of Chuck’s story gets presented. Perhaps it will maintain vagueness about why certain characters appear to be acting in different ways, unraveling the imaginary world in the protagonist’s head by making it unclear what’s real and what isn’t until the very end. This could make the film highly rewatchable too, as layered clues reveal the truth behind the story unfolding.
The Life of Chuckpremieres at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024.
The Life of Chuck
Cast
The Life of Chuck is a film exploring the life of Chuck Krantz, presented in reverse chronological order.
