Happy Thanksgiving everyone!I hope everyone is prepared for a wonderful day filled with family, friends, and food; but just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean the week has been devoid of news and entertainment from Stephen King’s world. There’s still a lot to gather for this week’s edition of The King Beat.
From Chuck’s Life, which wraps up the principal shoot, to the most recent episode of Rick and Morty that features not one or two references to Stephen King, there’s a lot of fun stuff to think about, so let’s get into it!
Right now, the list of Stephen King adaptations for 2024 is a bit confusing. In the past six months, Constant Readers has noticed the release of two new films: The Boogeyman and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, but neither film has a set release date lately. for next year, and there are no express plans yet. Neither for TV or broadcast projects. However, what gives us a lot of hope that 2024 won’t be absolutely without King on screen is Gary’s limbo prestige in limbo. Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot and that Mike Flanagan has wrapped production on The Life Of Chuck.
It was in my column less than two months ago that I noted The Life Of Chuck was gearing up for production in Alabama, and now, the writer/director behind the new Stephen King movie has announced that principal photography has come to an end. On Friday, November 17, Flanagan took to his personal Twitter account to both announce that filming on The Life Of Chuck had ended and send a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who was involved in making it. The filmmaker wrote,
That’s a wrap on THE LIFE OF CHUCK. This has been a tenacious little miracle of a movie from the start & I’m forever indebted to this wonderful cast and crew. This film is deeply special to me, and I’m elated that it’s going to exist in the world… It’s been a long time since I made something truly independent & it fed my soul to be back in the indie world where I started – especially here in Alabama, where we shot OCULUS, BEFORE I WAKE, HUSH and GERALD’S GAME.
We first learned about The Life Of Chuck in early May of this year when it was announced that the independent project was going to be shopped at the Cannes film market. At that time, the cast only included Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill, but the ensemble cast grew considerably when production was gearing up in October. In addition to Hamill (who had a brilliant supporting role on the Netflix series The Fall Of The House Of Usher), the movie features a number of performers who have past experience working with Mike Flanagan, including Annalise Basso, Matt Biedel, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Rahul Kohli, Heather Langenkamp, Carl Lumbly, Violet McGraw, Molly C. Quinn, Sauriyan Sapkota, Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, and Michael Trucco.
In a follow-up post, Mike Flanagan shared deep gratitude to all of the people with whom he collaborated on The Life Of Chuck, and added that this is a project for which he feels immense pride:
Our cast is a real embarrassment of wealth, our crew is small but fierce, and the movie itself is unlike anything I’ve ever been able to do, or probably can do again. I am in love with each and every symbol and I am so grateful to each and every single user who brought this portion of hope and joy to life. . . CHUCK’S LIFE is the movie I need to leave out in the world for my kids, and I’m so grateful to Trevor. Macy @IntrepidPix, @QWGmire and @movienation for making this possible. And of course, many thanks to @StephenKing for entrusting me with this beautiful, fragile and joyful story.
The Life Of Chuck is based on the Stephen King novella of the same name, which was first published in the 2020 collection If It Bleeds. The dramatic narrative plays out in reverse chronological order, beginning with the eponymous Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) dying from a brain tumor and proceeding back through his time on Earth. In an interview with Hiddleston that CinemaBlend published earlier this month, the Loki actor made comparisons between the film and The Shawshank Redemption.
The Shawshank Redemption, of course, is the perfect title to highlight when explaining that Stephen King is not simply a writer of horror stories – but Mike Flanagan still expects an uphill battle when it comes to explaining that his King adaptation follow-up to Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep is not a scary movie. The writer/director concluded his thread writing,
Now I’m back to LA to edit (cannot wait), and start the long road of expectation setting that THE LIFE OF CHUCK isn’t a horror movie. Profound thanks to the cast & crew, & to Foley, Fairhope, Daphne, Spanish Fort, Bay Minette, and Mobile for your hospitality. That’s a wrap!
The Life Of Chuck doesn’t have a release date yet (waiting for one of the 52 weekends of 2024 doesn’t seem far-fetched), but you can be sure that we’ll hear about its distribution plans as soon as possible. available. be available.
Those who watch Rick And Morty know that the excellent animated series has previously demonstrated a fanship for Stephen King. The Season 1 episode “Something Ricked This Way Comes” riffs on the excellent novel Needful Things; Season 2’s “A Rickle in Time” introduces an interdimensional being that looks a whole lot like the creatures in the novella “The Langoliers;” and Season 3’s “The Ricklantis Mixup” has a Stand By Me-esque B-plot. These kind of references pop up regularly – but the most recent episode is worth highlighting because it delivers a two-for-one special by featuring nods to both Maximum Overdrive (based on the short story “Trucks”) and Pet Sematary.
In Season 7’s “Rickffinishing Your Mort” (a play from Albert Brooks’ film Deffinishing Your Life), Rick and Morty end up inviting an interdimensional, geode-like being named The Observer into their home, and to settle an argument between the two protagonists, he shows excerpts from some of their adventures beyond. Among the former is what’s literally described as “Maximum Overdrive with Clothing” – and that’s precisely what you think. Instead of trucks and electronics coming to life and rebelling against humans, it’s everyone’s shirts and pants. Looking on the bright side, Rick is glad they’re dealing with cars, but his opinion changes when he sees a sensitive hoodie ripping off a woman’s face and trying to put it on. The song is fast, but excellent.
Later in the episode, another flashback shows that the show’s eponymous duo did a bit of experimentation in a pet graveyard. As they seek to resurrect Ben Franklin (for undisclosed reasons), they are disappointed when he returns evil, but failure inspires experimentation. They know that after a while, a dead user buried in the Pet Sematary will make a sinister return from the grave. . . But what about a dead car? And part of a dead kangaroo?And wrapping a frame in aluminum foil would perhaps be this totally “evil” thing?As scientists, Rick and Morty get to the bottom of things with disgusting, frightening, and hilarious results.
Great references to Stephen King and Easter eggs can be discovered in popular culture, and I’ll continue to point out new and correct ones like the ones in this column.
If you’re a Stephen King fan and also collect physical media, this fall has been a banner season. Hardcover copies of the new novel Holly hit stores in early September, and as for adaptations, The Mist and Cujo were released in 4K UHD. and The Boogeyman is now available in Blu-ray. Es all of these releases may have left a small hole in your pocket over the past few months, but if you’re building the Ultimate Stephen King series, let me recommend others. A must-buy for your bookshelf: Scream Factory’s new 4K UHD from Tales From The Darkside: The Movie.
News that the horror anthology film would be re-released in ultra-high definition first broke in September (around the time I mentioned it on The King Beat), and my pre-order arrived last week. I could, I made it a point to compare the new look of the film to the collector’s edition that Scream Factory first released on Blu-ray in August 2020, and I’m more than inspired by what the in-house video distributor has accomplished. The 4K motion of the original film turned negative, and the Stephen King’s adaptation of “Hellcat” that includes it has never looked better. You can see the innovations for yourself in the side-by-side images below (images of the new movement is on the left).
As you can see, the faded look is no more, and David Johansen and William Hickey now have skin tones that look much more human. You’ll also notice that the colors and patterns of the characters’ costumes look much richer.
In addition to offering great hunting, the Tales From The Darkside: The Movie Collector’s Edition includes all the special features included on the Blu-ray, as well as an all-new feature film observation track recorded by film critic Emily Higgins and Billy. Dunham. Do yourself a favor and get a copy. . . but also be sure to leave room on your shelf for upcoming 4K releases from Silver Bullet, The Dead Zone, and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.
With Thanksgiving coming to America, we are now at the beginning of the holiday season. For many other people, it means family, food, and gifts, and for many, it also means traveling. This week, cars, trains, and airplanes have been filled with other people moving across cities, national borders, and across the country to be with the other people we love. Taking this idea in perhaps the darkest possible direction, I want to celebrate this annual activity by doing my tip of the week. “The excursion”.
First published in a 1981 part of The Twilight Zone magazine before being collected on Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew bus in 1985, “The Jaunt” centers on the Oates family, who live in a remote future where teleportation technology has enabled the colonization of the entire world. solar system. As Mark Oates, his wife, and their two children look forward to a vacation on Mars, Mark tells the story of Jaunt’s creation and use; However, it chooses not to know what happens to a user if they consciously go through it. teleportation. This turns out to be a terrible mistake, as the father does not take into account the interest of one of his children, resulting in natural terror.
“The Jaunt” is one of the best short stories that Stephen King has written, and it sports one of the author’s best endings – with the last few paragraphs amounting to a true nightmare. If you’re a King fan and haven’t read it yet, do yourself a favor – even if it means introducing a bit of darkness to the general holiday season cheer.
That concludes this special Thanksgiving edition of The King Beat, but be sure to check back here at CinemaBlend next Thursday for my definitive column, and in the meantime, you can check out my Stephen King Adaptation series, which delves into the long history of King’s work. . currently being adapted for film and television.
Originally from New Jersey, he lives in Los Angeles and lives in a Dreamatorium. A CinemaBlend veteran for over a decade who has been excited about the career he’s been dreaming of since seventh grade.
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