Four Stephen King movies are releasing in 2025, and after the massive success ofThe Life of Chuck, the bar for the next adaptations has been massively raised.The Life of Chuckis one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2025, with the Mike Flanagan film evenwinning the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festivalwhen it premiered. Now thatThe Life of Chuckhas finally had its wide release, this positive critical reception has only grown, making it one of the best Stephen King movie adaptations so far.
The Life of Chucktells the story of the titular accountant in reverse order, starting with his death and the end of the universe, then moving on to his life as a middle-aged accountant, then showing his childhood. The film tackles a lot of weighty yet life-affirming themes, with the decade-sprawling story encompassing Chuck’s entire life as well as the legacy that he leaves behind. While there are still supernatural elements toThe Life of Chuck,it is a far cry from many other Stephen King stories, with it falling more in line with critical hits likeThe Green MileandThe Shawshank Redemption.
The Life Of Chuck’s Rotten Tomatoes Scores Are The Highest For Stephen King In A While
Since Stephen King’s Legendary 2017 Run
The Life of Chuckhas been a massive critical success, and the film’s positive reception has held strong since its theatrical release. As of the writing of this article,The Life of Chuckhas an 82% critic score onRotten Tomatoesand an 88% audience score.This Certified Fresh ratingmeans thatThe Life of Chuckis in the highest class of movies on the review aggrigation website, proving how beloved the film has continued to be since its release.
A lot of movie adaptations of Stephen King’s works have been made, and these positive scores are the highest for one of King’s movies in a while. The last time that a Stephen King movie scored higher was in 2017, meaning that it has been eight years. Interestingly, three of the four Stephen King movies that were released that year surpassedThe Life of Chuck’s Rotten Tomatoes score.Gerald’s Game,1922, andItall have higher scores thanThe Life of Chuck, with their critic scores being 91%, 92%, and 85% respectively. However, their audience scores aren’t higher,Gerald’s Gamescoring 70%,1922scoring 58%, andItscoring 84%.
Only a few other Stephen King movies have been rated higher thanThe Life of ChuckonRotten Tomatoes. Based on their critic scores,The Life of Chuckhas also been beaten byThe Shining’s 83%,Dolores Claiborne’s 86%,The Dead Zone’s 89%,The Shawshank Redemption’s 89%,Misery’s 91%,Stand By Me’s 92%, andCarrie’s 94%.
The Long Walk & The Running Man Now Need To Come Close To Life Of Chuck’s RT Scores
Creating Another Stephen King Hot Streak
The Life of Chuckstarted this year of Stephen King movie adaptations out with a bang, and the other two 2025 movies need to live up to their predecessor. The movie adaptation ofThe Long Walkand the remake ofThe Running Manare the other twoKing movies set to release in 2025, and it will be challenging for them to meet the standard thatThe Life of Chuckhas set. However, both movies have not been seen yet, meaning that it is impossible to compare them toThe Life of Chuck’s initial praise that was seen at TIFF.
So far, however, both of these films look pretty good.Trailers forThe Long Walkhave been released, and it looks like a promising dystopian film.The Running Manhasn’t released any trailers yet, but the talent involved with the film means that it is shaping up to be good. Having three positively received movies means that 2025 could be a year that is just as legendary as Stephen King’s 2017, and while they don’t have to beatThe Life of Chuck,The Long WalkandThe Running Manneed to come close to pull this off.
The Long Walkis the next Stephen King adaptation that will be released, meaning that we will examine it’s Rotten Tomatoes chances first.The Long Walkis a beloved Stephen King story, meaning that it already has a great narrative backbone to work with.The movie will be directed by Frances Lawrence, who has directed some big hits before. He was the director behind everyThe Hunger Gamesmovie except for the original, as well asI Am Legend, proving he can make great dystopian films. However, his less positively reviewed movies includeConstantine,Red Sparrow, andSlumberland.
One major plus forThe Long Walkis that it is written by JT Mollner, the writer and director of the 2024 critical hitStrange Darling. The film also has a great cast, includingLicorice Pizzastar Cooper Hoffman,Alien: Romulusbreakout success David Jonsson, andThe Life of Chuck’s very own Mark Hamill. Everyone involved inThe Long Walkhas done great work before, and if the entire team is on thier A-game,The Long Walkhas the makings for a fantastic Stephen King movie.
The final Stephen King movie that will release in 2025 isThe Running Man, and it has a chance to beatThe Life of Chuck’s Rotten Tomatoes score as well.The biggest plus forThe Running Manremake is that it is directed by Edgar Wright, the director behind classic movies likeShaun of the Dead,Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, andBaby Driver. While his last movie,Last Night in Soho, wasn’t his best, it still has its fans. Wright’s strong track record and stronger directorial style means thatThe Running Manremake could be a hit.
The involvement of Glenn Powell is also a big plus, as he is one of Hollywood’s hottest and most consistently great actors. 1987’sThe Running Manhas proven that the story can be adapted in a not-so-great way, which is a little worrying. However, the existence of the original also means thatThe Running Manremake can learn from its mistakes. So,The Running Manseems like a more surefire critical success, whileThe Long Walkalso has a chance of performing similarly toThe Life of Chuck.
