Stephen King on Film

A subforum to discuss film culture and criticism.
Post Reply
Message
Author
flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

Re: New Films in Production

#1 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sun Jun 10, 2012 4:33 pm

Seems there's a lot of King's stuff in pre-production or in development now. The new film version of Carrie, Showtime producing a mini-series of Under The Dome, and of course that big albatross of The Dark Tower series Imagine has been trying to get off the ground.

User avatar
warren oates
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:16 pm

A Good Marriage (Peter Askin, 2014)

#2 Post by warren oates » Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:12 pm

I'd like to emphatically recommend skipping A Good Marriage. Based on one of Stephen King's better short stories, certainly one of the greatest ideas he's ever had for a story, the film fails mostly because he was also the screenwriter and a producer on the project. King's always been a terrible editor of his own literary work and an even worse adapter, favoring the "faithful" work of middling hacks like Mick Garris over Stanley Kubrick. This one's no exception. Joan Allen gives a solid performance but misses the chance to be brilliant because the director's barely competent and the story has been so badly translated to the screen. A huge missed opportunity for, what, in the right hands, could have been an almost Haneke-like horror film about the intimacy of a long marriage, and the ways in which we can never really be sure we know someone.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Films of 2014

#3 Post by domino harvey » Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:21 pm

I have heard truly awful things about A Good Marriage, so I'm sure you're right, but I think King's track record with adapting his own works is less cut and dry than that. The Stand did a remarkable job of condensing and sanitizing his behemoth source novel, Cat's Eye is a fun entry in the anthology horror craze of the 80s, and some of his original screenplays range from great (Creepshow) to good (Storm of the Century). Now, did he also write Sleepwalkers and Maximum Override and that awful X Files episode about the doll? Yes.

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: The Films of 2014

#4 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:40 pm

At least we can all agree that he's a great actor.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Films of 2014

#5 Post by domino harvey » Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:45 pm

He does give the second best man with grass growing on him performance of 1982

Movie-Brat
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:14 am

Re: The Films of 2014

#6 Post by Movie-Brat » Sat Oct 04, 2014 12:22 am

"This is going to be extremely painful, Mr. Verill."

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#7 Post by domino harvey » Fri Nov 21, 2014 12:52 pm

Josh Boone claims his Stand adaptation will now be told over four feature films and has apparently either netted or is in the process of netting an A-list star

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: Stephen King on Film

#8 Post by swo17 » Fri Nov 21, 2014 1:05 pm

Presumably with working titles of The Stand, The Stand Part II: Part One, The Stand Part II: Part Two - Part 1, and The Stand Part II: Part Two - Part 2.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#9 Post by domino harvey » Fri Nov 21, 2014 1:29 pm

The Stand II: Still Standing

User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#10 Post by knives » Fri Nov 21, 2014 2:04 pm

At that point why not just make it a miniseries for HBO or whatever?

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#11 Post by domino harvey » Fri Nov 21, 2014 2:24 pm

I'm sure the idea is to make a Hunger Games/LOTR-type franchise. I could see the book sustaining two three-hour movies, which would seem to be the ideal middleground for a looong feature film. There's easily enough material in the book for four films, but I can't imagine everyone showing up for all of those (and can part one, where the whole country/world just slowly dies really inspire people to come back to the theaters three more times?)

User avatar
Magic Hate Ball
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:15 pm
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Stephen King on Film

#12 Post by Magic Hate Ball » Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:24 pm

This is great, actually, I can just go to the first one and skip the rest because it all goes to pot after Mother Abigail arrives on the scene. I wonder if they'll update it again? I remember being amused by the slapdash search-and-replace method in the expanded edition that moved the action forward to 1990 but still had characters marveling over color TVs.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#13 Post by domino harvey » Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:35 pm

Matthew McConaughey probably starring in the Stand. That makes sense, he was one of the first names I went to for who could play Stu. Then I read the article-- they want him for Flagg :shock: It's inspired casting, but I still think they've missed the perfect Stu here (well, Sinise could do it again I guess)

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#14 Post by domino harvey » Thu Mar 05, 2015 12:41 pm

Not on film, but Bruce Willis is starring in a Broadway adaptation of Misery

...and apparently Fukunaga's It adaptation will update the time frame so the kids' story no longer takes place in the 50s. Boooooooooooooo

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#15 Post by domino harvey » Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:34 am

Apparently the 90s are back, as yet another King adaptation is in the works, this time of "the Jaunt" from the director of Mama. This is one of King's best short stories, but I can't imagine it retaining its impact in anything other than an anthology segment of fifteen minutes or so

User avatar
cdnchris
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Washington
Contact:

Re: Stephen King on Film

#16 Post by cdnchris » Sat Mar 14, 2015 1:50 pm

I read that eons ago it seems and I still remember it vividly. The ending had a huge impact on me and thinking about it now --with kids--makes it even more horrifying.

Having said that, like you, I have no idea how you would adapt it to a full feature. But that didn't stop them with The Lawnmower Man I guess (which I would still love to see an actual adaptation of).

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Stephen King on Film

#17 Post by colinr0380 » Sat Mar 14, 2015 3:44 pm

I'm the same, I've not read the story for years but could vividly recall the ending as soon as I heard the title. It is a little upsetting though that King ruined the exciting possibilities of teleportation for me! And of course Trucks wrecked the concept of self-driving cars for me too, so even if they get invented I'm still going to have to walk everywhere due to being too scared to trust either form of transport!

But I'm slightly with domino and chris in that there's only really the big ending to adapt. Perhaps they'll take that core idea and embellish hugely around it to create a feature in a similar manner to Richard Kelly with The Box. Which as we all know was a huge hit.

(I actually like The Box, and some of the most interesting moments are those that stray furthest away from the original story, going into Kelly's loopy alien consipracy theory stuff, but I can see why it might not be seen as that much of a compliment to bring it up!)

EDIT: I pulled out Skeleton Crew to have a quick read through the story again and it still packs a hell of a punch. I could see a lot of the ideas about the justice system and capital punishment (a running theme in King's work, what with The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption) being able to be elaborated upon. A couple of things came to mind:
SpoilerShow
That self-blinding ending is very like X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes. And the eternity of punishment is very similar to the idea used in the recent Christmas episode of Black Mirror

It is also interesting that King seems to namecheck the unfortunate astronaut in The Quatermass Experiment with one of the characters in the story being called Victor Carune (the character in The Quatermass Experiment is named Victor Carroon, but it is close enough!)
Last edited by colinr0380 on Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:16 am, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#18 Post by domino harvey » Sat Mar 14, 2015 5:03 pm

SpoilerShow
I guess we're all agreeing that this film adaptation will be "Longer than you think"

User avatar
Feego
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:30 pm
Location: Texas

Re: Stephen King on Film

#19 Post by Feego » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:48 pm

Slant Magazine's Top 10 Stephen King Movies. Nothing too shocking here, and anyone familiar enough with Slant Magazine would be able to predict their #1 choice. I'm most surprised by their inclusion of the underrated Silver Bullet and especially by their #2 choice.

User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#20 Post by knives » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:18 pm

Just saw Silver Bullet and if that's really one of the best adaptations of his work then he's been treated even worse than I thought. Outside of some nifty shots of the villain (and his overall performance) it plays like a mediocre television film to use their terms that went under a lot of awkward post work.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#21 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:26 pm

I had no earthly idea Cell finally got made

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Stephen King on Film

#22 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Jul 14, 2016 12:13 pm

But Silver Bullet has a wheelchair-bound teen hero that doesn't feel shoehorned in to make a comment about disability and perhaps more to allow for some wacky gadget antics in the spruced up chair! (Along with a teachable lesson that all of your gadgets inevitably end up draining your chair's batteries at the worst possible moment!) I kind of think of it as fitting in with the Goonies/Monster Squad/Lost Boys/Flight of the Navigator period of 80s kid-focused horror-adventure pics rather than capturing the bleaker, seasonal tone of the book though. But I remember thinking it particularly impressive that the main kid here is shown as capable and independent in the way he manages his disability, with the film noting it but never making a particularly big deal out of it - its just what the character has to cope with, along with werewolves! The film also has peak period nutty Gary Busey as either the coolest Uncle or the worst cautionary tale extended family member you could possibly leave your kids with!

Plus a great role for Lawrence Tierney as a nasty posse leader who unfortunately does not manage to capture the wolf! Also I seem to remember some pretty effective gore scenes and a few dream sequences that felt influenced by The Company of Wolves.

Its a surprisingly great adaptation of King's Cycle of the Werewolf, even if it doesn't quite capture some of the power of the comicbook-style pictures interspersed throughout King's book (its in the trend of The Stand and Eyes of The Dragon of the book featuring a few panels showing some of the more visceral moments).
Last edited by colinr0380 on Thu Jul 14, 2016 4:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.

User avatar
Feego
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:30 pm
Location: Texas

Re: Stephen King on Film

#23 Post by Feego » Thu Jul 14, 2016 2:07 pm

colinr0380 wrote:Also I seem to remember some pretty effective gore scenes and a few dream sequences that felt influenced by The Company of Wolves.
Admittedly I probably haven't seen this movie since I was in middle school in the late 90s, but I do remember a pretty great dream sequence in which an entire church congregation transforms into werewolves, with the sweet little old lady playing the organ becoming a particularly animated and ferocious wolf!

User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Stephen King on Film

#24 Post by knives » Thu Jul 14, 2016 2:09 pm

That's the only real dream sequence.

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Stephen King on Film

#25 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Jul 14, 2016 4:36 pm

domino harvey wrote:I had no earthly idea Cell finally got made
I've always thought of The Happening as a film in the same kind of vein as the novel of Cell, which makes me wonder if the relative failure of that film had any influence on this adaptation coming out after so long? (Of course the other great 'normal people suddenly driven homicidally psychotic' novels are James Herbert's The Fog and Richard Laymon's One Rainy Night)

Post Reply