Mike Flanagan's upcoming Stephen King movie is "haunting and scary" according to star, who says he's never had an "incredible" experience like it before
Sep. 3, 2024Exclusive | David Dastmalchian teases the “haunting and scary” upcoming film The Life of Chuck
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Anticipation is already sky-high for horror maestro Mike Flanagan’s upcoming movie The Life of Chuck, adapted from the Stephen King novella of the same name. However, one of the film stars, David Dastmalchian, has just got us even more excited to see it.
Speaking to GamesRadar+ in an recent interview, Dastmalchian teased the upcoming genre-bending tale which follows Tom Hiddleston’s Charles ‘Chuck’ Krantz as he travels back in time following his death to watch his life play out in reverse order. Given Flanagan’s impressive back catalogue that ranges from hit Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House to The Shining sequelDoctor Sleep, this intriguing supernatural tale seems to be a perfect fit for the director.
And for Dastmalchian, who is perhaps best known for playing bizarre superhero Polka-Dot Man inJames Gunn’sThe Suicide Squadas well as starring in the lead role in this year’s beloved horror filmLate Night with the Devil, working with Flanagan was a dream come true. In fact, he has never experienced anything like it before in his long career.
The actor explained that Flanagan made a serious impression despite Dastmalchian only being on set for a day or two: “I had always heard about the worlds Mike would masterfully create on his sets because it is a family unit. These are people who have worked together over many years who have really strong forms of trust and communication. So, when I showed up for my day of working on the movie, maybe it was two days, I got there and was immediately like, ‘Oh wow, I’ve never seen something this close knit, this incredible before.’ It’s like a circus – they just pick it up and set it up in the next place, they are all friends and have been doing this together for so long.”
As for the movie itself, Dastmalchian emphasized that while it is indeed “haunting” it’s also unexpectedly emotional too. Although that tracks given hisco-star Karen Gillan’s commentsthat she “didn’t stop crying for days” after watching it.
Dastmalchian continued: “The way he [Mike Flanagan] works is so hands on and with deep love, which is really sweet when you consider how macabre his mind is, how dark the stories he tells can be. He’s just this deeply loving human being and I think Life of Chuck really explores themes that are haunting and scary, but it’s also very emotional in a way that I wasn’t expecting.”
It’s currently unclear which roles both Gillan and Dastmalchian are playing in the upcoming feature, but we know they a part of a stellar cast line-up which also includes Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill, Scream’s Matthew Lillard, and Doctor Strange’s Chiwetel Ejiofor. Yeah, it’s safe to say that we can’t wait!
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The Life of Chuck currently doesn’t have a release date.
For more heading your way, check out our guide toupcoming moviesas well asupcoming horror movies.
As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I’ve worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.
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