It’s been a wild year for fans of both Mike Flanagan And Matthew Lillardespecially when both men have worked together for the upcoming 2025 movie Chuck’s life. Stephen King’s adaptation was apparently a partnership that started with what Lillard describes as “a very Hollywood thing,” eventually leading to the Scream icon further hyping the Tom Hiddleston-led release.
Thanks to the conversation with the man himself about this new project, I am even more excited what we know about Chuck’s lifeespecially given Mr Flanagan’s track record with his own potential acting company. Without having seen the film, I really hope this isn’t the end of their collaboration, as the responses so far seem to indicate this is a match made in Heaven.
How a three-hour lunch between Matthew Lillard and Mike Flanagan led to Chuck’s life
It was an absolute pleasure speaking with Matthew Lillard on behalf of his brand Find familiar ghosts. A company co-founded by the Scooby Doo star, the label sells quality drinks with a narrative twist. Dungeons and dragons fans would know about the The end of the search line of comic book bourbons unique to this product line, and Lillard is about to debut a new brand in Macabre Tequila.
The first bottle in the line, Rare, Fine & Limited Reposado Tequila, is currently available for pre-order in anticipation of its debut in January 2025. And this particular libation comes with an original novella written by Mike Flanagan himself, titled ‘Rare , Fine, & Limited’. This horror offering, as well Chuck’s life partnership, all stemmed from a unique event that Matthew Lillard described to CinemaBlend as follows:
We actually sat down for something very Hollywood-esque, we had lunch together. We had a mutual friend, and he said, ‘Mike Flanagan wants to meet you,’ and I said, ‘Great.’ I didn’t really know his work at the time. I don’t consume a lot of horror in my life, I know that sounds a bit surprising. We sat and had lunch, and we talked for three hours. It was just an incredible afternoon. We got along great, and at the end he said, “You know, one day I want to work with you.” I’m like, ‘You don’t have to ask me twice. I’m in.’
Matthew Lillard, CinemaBlend
You know you’re getting along with someone when you can sit through a three-hour lunch, especially if you want to give someone a chance to work with you at the end. But of course, such great events don’t always materialize. Schedules can get crazy, and various flavors of “life gets in the way” presented countless opportunities for the universe to throw stumbling blocks between Matthew Lillard and his new friend.
(Image credit: TIFF)
That said, the lead time between this meeting and Chuck’s life offer is impressive in terms of the chaos that Hollywood knows. As Mr. Lillard continued to describe this eventual offer coming to fruition, the offer came in around the following timeline:
About a year later, six months later, he called me and I was dropping my kid off at college, and he said, “Hey, I have a small part in this movie, a small movie if you’re interested. Independently funded, very small. It is close to my heart, but it is only a small part. It’s not about what I think about your abilities or your talent, and I don’t mean to offend you, and you don’t have to take on this role.” And I thought, ‘You won’t offend me. I’m 100 percent in favor of it, and yes is the answer.’ So I ended up spending a day working on The Life of Chuck, his adaptation of Stephen King’s novella.
Matthew Lillard, CinemaBlend
The concept of actors who appeared in one crucial scene Spinning the axis of a film isn’t new, and based on what Matthew Lillard had to say in his role for Mike Flanagan’s latest film, that seems to be what we’re about to see. At least that’s the impression I got when I read the details he shared exclusively with our sister publication Total moviewhich included the following:
I play the most rudimentary man ever named Gus. And he is beautiful. …what I love about my character is that he packs a whole handful of humanity into a little five-minute scene, and it’s work that I’m really proud of. But on top of that, I think it really moves the movie to an emotional place. And so I’m excited for people to be able to see Gus and experience that movie, because I think the movie is what the world needs right now in a lot of ways.
Matthew Lillard, GamesRadar+
Early praise for the film is already starting to buzz, and there’s even talk about how good Matthew Lillard’s performance as Gus is. Like the Five nights at Freddy’s actor continues with what has been called the ‘renaissance moment’ of his career. The results pleased fans and critics alike.
After learning Lillards Scooby Doo 2 to assureThis result seems even nicer to see. So with all this talk of the future up in the air, I really hope that this new friendship leads to a new addition to what I like to call the Mike Flanagan Repertory Company.
(Image credit: NBC)
Matthew Lillard’s hype for Chuck’s life makes me hope he and Mike Flanagan continue to work together
As if the initial announcement of this project wasn’t enough to stoke the fire, that of our very own Eric Eisenberg response to Chuck’s life Place a little more weight on that side of the scale. Knowing that he is our resident King Beat reporter, his opinion only built me up further in anticipation of what will likely be a summer 2025 release for Neon.
So when Matthew Lillard delivered this outpouring of praise during our conversation, it seemed like a sign that I was putting my faith in the right place:
It was great. It was so wonderful. We got along great. We had a blast. We hung out and ate dinner over the weekend. It’s everything you could want as an actor on a set. And then it was time to finish the job, the job went well. The film is brilliant, it just won the Toronto International Film Festival. The last twelve films to win this award have been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. So it’s very exciting for us. We just got bought by Neon, so it’s coming out next year, which will be fun.
Matthew Lillard, CinemaBlend
Returning to the theme of career renaissances, the work that is apparently done for Chuck’s life seems to have given Matthew Lillard more room to utilize his talents. I’m actually curious to read the novella myself so I can explore more about why it gets rave reviews from people as a co-star/fellow horror genre icon David Dastmalchianwho came up in an interview with Gizmodo from earlier this year.
That of course depends on whether the Thirteen ghosts veteran would like to rejoin Mr. Flanagan’s merry band of performers. When I raised that possibility in conversation, Matthew Lillard had only this to say:
You can only hope. … Listen, I’m like, I’m ready. I hope he considers me anyway. I adore him as a person. He’s like one of my favorite people. So no matter what, I’m lucky to have him as a friend.
Matthew Lillard, CinemaBlend
A future collaboration between Matthew Lillard and Mike Flanagan already sounds like a welcome renewed collaboration. And since the man himself has been known to play fictional characters who “always come back,” I hope his professional life reflects that promise – albeit in a much more pleasant way than that. Five nights at Freddy’s would imply referral.
Although I can’t speak to the quality of Chuck’s lifeI can definitely say that Lillard and Flanagan’s literary collaboration is a winner! For those of you curious about ‘Rare, Fine & Limited’, you can only do so if you pre-order a bottle of Rare, Fine & Limited Reposado Tequila from Macabre Spirits. In the meantime, if you want to see where others upcoming Stephen King movies As you land on the road ahead, you can check out our guide explaining what will happen in the near future.