Four Stephen King movies are releasing in 2025, and after the mᴀssive success of The Life of Chuck, the bar for the next adaptations has been mᴀssively raised. The Life of Chuck is one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2025, with the Mike Flanagan film even winning the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival when it premiered. Now that The Life of Chuck has 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 Chuck tells the story of the тιтular 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 encompᴀssing Chuck’s entire life as well as the legacy that he leaves behind. While there are still supernatural elements to The Life of Chuck, it is a far cry from many other Stephen King stories, with it falling more in line with critical hits like The Green Mile and The 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 Chuck has been a mᴀssive 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 Chuck has an 82% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 88% audience score. This Certified Fresh rating means that The Life of Chuck is 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 surpᴀssed The Life of Chuck‘s Rotten Tomatoes score. Gerald’s Game, 1922, and It all have higher scores than The Life of Chuck, with their critic scores being 91%, 92%, and 85% respectively. However, their audience scores aren’t higher, Gerald’s Game scoring 70%, 1922 scoring 58%, and It scoring 84%.

Only a few other Stephen King movies have been rated higher than The Life of Chuck on Rotten Tomatoes. Based on their critic scores, The Life of Chuck has also been beaten by The Shining‘s 83%, Dolores Claiborne‘s 86%, The ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Zone‘s 89%, The Shawshank Redemption‘s 89%, Misery‘s 91%, Stand By Me‘s 92%, and Carrie‘s 94%.

The Long Walk & The Running Man Now Need To Come Close To Life Of Chuck’s RT Scores

Creating Another Stephen King H๏τ Streak

The Life of Chuck started 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 of The Long Walk and the remake of The Running Man are the other two King movies set to release in 2025, and it will be challenging for them to meet the standard that The Life of Chuck has set. However, both movies have not been seen yet, meaning that it is impossible to compare them to The Life of Chuck‘s initial praise that was seen at TIFF.

So far, however, both of these films look pretty good. Trailers for The Long Walk have been released, and it looks like a promising dystopian film. The Running Man hasn’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 beat The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk and The Running Man need to come close in order to pull this off.

How Likely The Long Walk Is To Beat Life Of Chuck’s Rotten Tomatoes Score

The Director Is Very Familiar With Dystopias

The Long Walk is the next Stephen King adaptation that will be released, meaning that we will examine it’s Rotten Tomatoes chances first. The Long Walk is 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 every The Hunger Games movie except for the original, as well as I Am Legend, proving he can make great dystopian films. However, his less positively reviewed movies include Constantine, Red Sparrow, and Slumberland.

One major plus for The Long Walk is that it is written by JT Mollner, the writer and director of the 2024 critical hit Strange Darling. The film also has a great cast, including Licorice Pizza star Cooper Hoffman, Alien: Romulus breakout success David Jonsson, and The Life of Chuck‘s very own Mark Hamill. Everyone involved in The Long Walk has done great work before, and if the entire team is on thier A-game, The Long Walk has the makings for a fantastic Stephen King movie.

How Likely The Running Man Is To Beat Life Of Chuck’s RT Score

Edgar Wright Could Pull It Off

The final Stephen King movie that will release in 2025 is The Running Man, and it has a chance to beat The Life of Chuck‘s Rotten Tomatoes score as well. The biggest plus for The Running Man remake is that it is directed by Edgar Wright, the director behind classic movies like Shaun of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Baby 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 that The Running Man remake could be a hit.

The involvement of Glenn Powell is also a big plus, as he is one of Hollywood’s H๏τtest and most consistently great actors. 1987’s The Running Man has 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 that The Running Man remake can learn from its mistakes. So, The Running Man seems like a more surefire critical success, while The Long Walk also has a chance of performing similarly to The Life of Chuck.