Summary
- Stephen King praised the emotional storytelling in 'The Life of Chuck,' but the box office numbers are disappointing.
- The movie adaptation of 'The Life of Chuck' is based on King's novella 'If It Bleeds' and features a unique, grounded horror story.
- Despite positive fan responses, 'The Life of Chuck' has not performed well at the box office, with low numbers compared to other King adaptations.
Stephen King's latest movie adaptation, The Life of Chuck, is impressing fans thanks to its strong performances and emotional story, but the box office numbers haven't been high. The popular author recently posted on one of his social media accounts and praised the movie.
The Life of Chuck was included in King's 2020 novella collection If It Bleeds along with the stories Rat, Mr. Harrigan's Phone, and If It Bleeds. In the past few years, several of King's horror stories have been adapted for film, including Salem's Lot, Osgood Perkins's The Monkey, Firestarter, and The Boogeyman. The 2025 releases based on King's beloved work are unique because, rather than vampires and demons, the movies are more grounded (but still powerful). In The Long Walk, which was directed by Francis Lawrence, teenagers try to make it to the end of a lengthy and dangerous competition. While fans are enjoying the strong storytelling in The Life of Chuck, the box office numbers have been unfortunate.
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Stephen King Wants Fans To See His Latest Movie Adaptation, The Life Of Chuck (And Box Office Numbers Have Been Low)
Stephen King posted on his Threads account recently and wrote:
"LIFE OF CHUCK: Support this extraordinary movie."
While King approves of the adaptation and star Mark Hamill praised it as well, The Life of Chuck only grossed
$224,585 in its domestic opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. So far, as of June 24th 2025, its domestic gross has been $4,670,545, and its worldwide gross is $6,033,594. Although no information is available about the film's budget, that is much lower than most King movie adaptations. In contrast, The Monkey grossed
just over $14 million in its domestic opening weekend in 3,200 movie theaters. The Monkey is definitely a big success story, likely due to the love that many fans have for King's work and also the general popularity of the horror genre in the past few years.
In a recent interview, King said he wasn't sure if The Life of Chuck would do well at the box office. However, audiences are enjoying Mike Flanagan's take on the moving story, which also stars Jacob Tremblay, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Lillard, Kate Siegal, Annalise Basso, Samantha Sloyan, Karen Gillan, and Nick Offerman as the narrator. As Hamill said, King is known for writing horror books, but he has penned a lot of other types of stories, too. The Life of Chuck, which tells Chuck Krantz's story in reverse order and shows him at the end, middle, and start of his life, is one of King's most memorable tales. It's as haunting as his horror movie adaptations, but in a different way.
A fan replied to King's Threads post and wrote, "What is the feeling like when a director perfectly nails one of your stories?" And King responded, "Good." Several fans echoed this sentiment in their replies. Although the box office numbers aren't great, audiences have responded positively to The Life of Chuck. Fans called the movie "beautiful" and "fantastic." One replied on Threads, "Please do yourself and someone you love a favor and see this amazing film."
In a thread on Reddit, some fans shared that The Life of Chuck isn't playing in their town, and they haven't been able to see it in the theater. As reported by Forbes, the movie had a limited release on June 6th, 2025 and then, on June 13th, began playing in 1,072 theaters.
King's next two movie adaptations are the grim The Long Walk, which will be out on September 12th, 2025, and the remake of The Running Man, which will be released on November 21st, 2025.
- Release Date
- May 30, 2025
- Runtime
- 110 minutes
- Director
- Mike Flanagan
- Writers
- Mike Flanagan, Stephen King
- Producers
- Trevor Macy, Mike Flanagan
Cast
-
Tom HiddlestonCharles 'Chuck' Krantz -
Matthew LillardGus
WHERE TO WATCH
'I Love This Movie': Stephen King Praises An Upcoming Adaptation Of His Beloved Work As The Official Trailer Is Here
Stephen King is sharing his positive thoughts about an upcoming movie based on one of his most moving stories.
Source: Threads.com