Moviefone Editorial

Tag: mr-harrigans-phone

  • Mark Hamill and Tom Hiddleston to Lead ‘The Life of Chuck’

    (Left) Mark Hamill in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi.' (Right) Tom Hiddleston in 'The Night Manager.'
    (Left) Mark Hamill in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi.’ (Right) Tom Hiddleston in ‘The Night Manager.’

    In the last decade or so, Mike Flanagan has established himself as one of the preeminent adaptation specialists when it comes to the work of Stephen King, and, especially on the small screen, has established his own identity as a master of horror with shows such as ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ and ‘Midnight Mass’.

    He’s back in King territory for a new movie, ‘The Life of Chuck’ and has recruited Mark Hamill (who surely needs little introduction) and Marvel/Shakespeare veteran Tom Hiddleston to star.

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    Mike Flanagan and Stephen King

    In just a couple of movies –– following some original work of his own –– Flanagan established his King credentials. There was Netflix’s ‘Gerald’s Game’, which starred Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood in the story of a married couple attempted to spice up their relationship at a remote lake house when the husband unexpectedly dies while his wife his handcuffed to the bed. And he followed that with ‘Doctor Sleep’, his adaptation of King’s ‘The Shining’ sequel.

    Author Stephen King.
    Author Stephen King. Photo: Stephen King/Facebook.

    Related Article: J.J. Abrams Will Produce and may Direct Stephen King Film ‘Billy Summers’

    What is ‘The Life of Chuck’?

    As opposed to his more straightforward horror adaptations, ‘Chuck’ will see Flanagan tackling something a little different from King’s canon, taking on the short story first published as part of the 2020 collection ‘If It Bleeds’ (which also featured ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’, adapted for Netflix by John Lee Hancock last year).

    The short story is split into three sections:

    The story is split into three acts offered in reverse chronological order.

    • In Act 1: ‘I Contain Multitudes’, Chuck is orphaned and is brought up by his paternal grandparents, where his love of dancing develops. His grandparents always keep their house’s cupola locked, but eventually Chuck unlocks the room and sees himself dying of a brain tumor at the age of 39.
    • In Act 2: ‘Buskers’, Chuck sees a drummer busking and starts dancing. A young girl joins him, dancing with Chuck as a crowd surrounds them. After dancing, Chuck suffers a bad headache and walks away dejected.
    • In Act 3: ‘Thanks, Chuck’, Marty drives home and sees a billboard showing an accountant sitting at a desk, underneath it says ‘39 Great Years! Thanks, Chuck’ as the world appears to be slowly crumbling. That evening as Marty visits his ex-wife Felicia, he notices Chuck’s image appearing everywhere. In a hospital, Chuck is dying surrounded by his family. Marty and Felicia see the stars disappearing, then blackness.

    Hiddleston’s playing one version of Chuck, while Hamill will be a character named Albie.

    According to Deadline, the film will be tonally along the lines of ‘Stand By Me’, so expect more character than scares.

    Flanagan finished the script before the WGA strike took hold, so it could theoretically still be made, assuming the DGA doesn’t also go on strike.

    Tom Hiddleston in 'The Essex Serpent.'
    Tom Hiddleston in ‘The Essex Serpent,’ premiering globally May 13, 2022 on Apple TV+.

    Other Movies Based on Stephen King Novels:

    Buy Stephen King Movies on Amazon

  • First Trailer for ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’

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    Last month brought the first images from new Stephen King adaptation ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’, the latest movie drawn from the iconic author’s work. And, in keeping with King’s style, it blends emotion, life lessons and creepiness.

    With John Lee Hancock writing and directing this one, the first trailer is now also online.

    ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’, which was first published in 2020 as part of a King collection titled ‘If It Bleeds’, follows the likes of ‘Gerald’s Game’ and ‘In The Tall Grass’.

    The story follows Craig (Jaeden Martell, while Colin O’Brien plays him as a younger kid), who lives in a small town. He befriends Mr. Harrigan, an older, reclusive billionaire (Donald Sutherland), the two begin to form an unlikely bond over their love of books and reading.

    Craig is a quiet, shy boy and has been dealing with bullying at school. He asks Mr. Harrigan how he dealt with people looking to take advantage of him in his day and gets a quick answer… “Harshly”.

    Jaeden Martell as Craig and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    (L-R) Jaeden Martell as Craig and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.

    And when Mr. Harrigan (mild spoiler alert, though it’s really part of the basic concept) sadly passes away, Craig discovers that not everything is dead and gone and strangely finds himself able to communicate with his friend from the grave through an iPhone (the movie is set in the first year of the iconic communication device’s existence).

    Naturally, Craig, who finds his bullies stepping up their campaign of violence, turns to his friend for help, even if Mr. Harrigan has passed to the great beyond. And the body count soon start to mount. Certain connections, it turns out, are never lost. Which will come as a surprise to anyone who has ever used a mobile phone.

    With Ryan Murphy (who has plenty of his own Netflix experience) producing, the cast for the movie also includes Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Joe Tippett, Cyrus Arnold, Thomas Francis Murphy and Peggy J. Scott.

    Hancock accepted the challenge of turning a relatively short story into a movie. “Because it’s a novella and it’s only 80-something pages, you have to jump in and grab onto thematically what I think he’s trying to say and activate some of it into scenes that aren’t necessarily all in the novella,” he tells Netflix’s Tudum blog.

    His biggest concern, though, was pleasing the man behind the story. “You finish a script and you realize you’ve got to send it to Stephen, and you’re going to get a thumbs up or a thumbs down,” Hancock says. “You go, ‘Oh my God, Stephen King’s reading my script. I hope he likes it.’”

    We’ll all see if we like it when the movie lands on Netflix on October 5th.

    Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
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  • First Images from ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’

    Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.

    Like many studios and streamers, Netflix just can’t get enough of Stephen King’s stories, and there have been any number of adaptations.

    Yet while Mike Flanagan has been behind several (including ‘Gerald’s Game’ for the streaming service), the latest movie comes from ‘The Blind Side’ and ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ John Lee Hancock.

    ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’, which was first published in 2020 as part of a King collection titled ‘If It Bleeds’, sees Hancock writing the script as well as directing.

    The story follows Craig (Jaeden Martell, while Colin O’Brien plays him as a younger kid), who lives in a small town. He befriends Mr. Harrigan, an older, reclusive billionaire (Donald Sutherland), the two begin to form an unlikely bond over their love of books and reading.

    But when Mr. Harrigan (mild spoiler alert, though it’s really part of the basic concept) sadly passes away, Craig discovers that not everything is dead and gone and strangely finds himself able to communicate with his friend from the grave through an iPhone…

    Jaeden Martell as Craig and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    (L-R) Jaeden Martell as Craig and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.

    Which is honestly a surprise to us, since we sometimes have trouble getting a signal in our apartment.

    Hancock gratefully accepted the challenge of turning a relatively short story into a movie. “Because it’s a novella and it’s only 80-something pages, you have to jump in and grab onto thematically what I think he’s trying to say and activate some of it into scenes that aren’t necessarily all in the novella,” he tells Netflix’s Tudum blog.

    His biggest concern, though, was pleasing the man behind the story. “You finish a script and you realize you’ve got to send it to Stephen, and you’re going to get a thumbs up or a thumbs down,” Hancock says. “You go, ‘Oh my God, Stephen King’s reading my script. I hope he likes it.’”

    Though there are definitely scares to be found in the tale, Hancock was not aiming for a full-on fright fest. Which is fitting, since not every King tale is loaded down with terror. “More than anything, it’s about an odd relationship between a billionaire in his 80s and a young man and the bonds of friendship, and how far will you go for a friend?” he says. “Do you like ‘Shawshank Redemption’, do you like ‘Stand By Me’, do you like ‘Green Mile’, do you like a ton of other Stephen King? My take on it was, it’s in the fashion of Brothers Grimm. It’s a cautionary fairy tale in a way.”

    Martell, of course, is no stranger to King territory, having played the younger Bill Denbrough in both of the big screen ‘It’ movies. Sutherland, meanwhile, appeared in a TV miniseries of ‘Salem’s Lot’ back in 2004.

    The cast for ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’ also features Joe Tippett, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Cyrus Arnold, Thomas Francis Murphy and Peggy J. Scott. The movie will arrive on Netflix on October 5th.

    Director John Lee Hancock and Jaeden Martell as Craig on the set of 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    (L-R) Director John Lee Hancock and Jaeden Martell as Craig on the set of ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
    Jaeden Martell as Craig, director John Lee Hancock and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    (L-R) Jaeden Martell as Craig, director John Lee Hancock and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
    Jaeden Martell as Craig and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    (L-R) Jaeden Martell as Craig and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
    Jaeden Martell as Craig in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    Jaeden Martell as Craig in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
    Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Ms. Hart in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Ms. Hart in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
    Bennett Saltzman as Billy, Alexa Niziak as Margie, Conor William Wright as U-Boat and Jaeden Martell as 'Craig in Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    (L-R) Bennett Saltzman as Billy, Alexa Niziak as Margie, Conor William Wright as U-Boat and Jaeden Martell as ‘Craig in Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
    Jaeden Martell as Craig and Cyrus Arnold as Kenny Yankovich in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    (L-R) Jaeden Martell as Craig and Cyrus Arnold as Kenny Yankovich in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
    Jaeden Martell as Craig in 'Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.'
    Jaeden Martell as Craig in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2022.
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