Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill have been cast in the new screen adaptation of the Stephen King short story, The Life of Chuck, which will be presented at the upcoming Cannes market, Deadline is reporting. Mike Flanagan will direct the Thor and Star Wars actors in the upcoming movie.
The acclaimed genre filmmaker, whose last two writing, helming and editing efforts were the screen adaptations of King’s novels Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game, will also scribe and produce The Life of Chuck for Intrepid Pictures. He’ll be joined on the upcoming project by fellow producer Trevor Macy.
FilmNation will handle international sales of the upcoming movie. WME Independent is set to handle the film’s domestic sales.
The screen adaptation will be based on the short story of the same name from King’s 2020 anthology novel, If It Bleeds. The novella features three separate stories that are linked. The stories tell the biography of Charles Krantz in reverse, beginning with his death from a brain tumor at age 39, and ending with his childhood in a supposedly haunted house.
The script for The Life of Chuck, which was written prior to the current WGA strike, has been in development for several months. Hiddleston is set to play the title character in the film, and Hamill has joined the project in the role of Albie.
The Life of Chuck movie will be a genre project, much like most of the screen adaptations of King’s most well-known novels and short stories. However, the upcoming film will also draw tonally from the acclaimed screen adaptations of his non-genre dramas, including Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.
Besides the Thor and Avengers movies and the Disney+ television show, Loki, Hiddleston is best known for starring on the mystery crime drama limited series, The Night Manager, for which he won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy. He has also starred in such stage productions as Betrayal and Hamlet for Ken Branagh.
Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars films. He went on to reprise the role in both the sequel movies and the second season of The Mandalorian and season one of The Book of Boba Fett. He recently appeared in the Netflix fantasy drama television show, Sandman.
The actor will also star in Sony’s upcoming action comedy film, The Machine opposite comedian Bert Kreischer. The movie, which was directed by Peter Atencio, is set to be released on May 26.
Hamill also appear in the horror miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher, which was created, penned, co-directed and executive produced by Flanagan. The show is expected to premiere on Netflix later this year, but a premiere date has not yet been announced.