Neon Releases New Trailer For Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Life of Chuck’

On Tuesday, Neon released a new trailer for The Life of Chuck, the latest Stephen King adaptation from Writer-Director Mike Flanagan. The film is adapted from a short story by the same name featured in King’s short story collection, If It Bleeds, published in 2020. The Life of Chuck is Flanagan’s third Stephen King adaptation, after 2017’s Gerald’s Game and 2019’s Doctor Sleep.

The trailer opens with a shot of the film’s protagonist, the titular Chuck, gazing at the stars as a child. In a voiceover, Mark Hamill, who plays Chuck’s grandfather, says, “When you look up at the night sky, it can tell you stuff about your future. It won’t lie to you; it’s pure that way. You might see a lot more than you want to.”

The trailer also describes, in text, that the film is “From Stephen King, the legendary author of The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, and Stand By Me,” meant to signify that the film is much more in line in tone with King’s more dramatic work and less with the horror stories he’s best known for. The film’s text also describes the movie as “From the heart and soul of Mike Flanagan”, similarly signifying that the film is much more heartfelt than Flanagan’s previous horror works.

The trailer also gives us glimpses of the film’s cast, which consists of Tom Hiddleston as the adult Chuck, Jacob Tremblay as the teenage Chuck, Mark Hamill as Chuck’s grandfather, Mia Sara as Chuck’s mother, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as schoolteacher Marty Anderson. As the title implies, the film follows the life of the titular Chuck. The story, told in reverse, begins with Chuck as an adult, who becomes the center of his small town after an array of billboards mysteriously pop up around the town, which say “Charles Krantz. 39 Great Years. Thanks, Chuck!” The film then follows Chuck’s childhood, as shown in the trailer.

 The Life of Chuck first premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where, as highlighted in the trailer’s opening, it won the People’s Choice Award. Neon will release the film in select theaters on June 6th, before expanding to a wide release a week later on June 13th.