Quote from: jacksparrow on July 13, 2006, 02:24:34 PMWhy isn't there an "All Things Stephen King" thread yet?
Okay then...
Spielberg, TNT reuniteKing novel 'Talisman' slate for '08Source: Variety
Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks TV are reteaming with TNT to exec produce a six-hour adaptation of the Stephen King-Peter Straub adventure novel "The Talisman."
Tentpole event has been greenlit for a summer 2008 debut.
Story follows a man's perilous journey to find a mysterious talisman that holds the key to saving his mother's life. His travels take him into a parallel universe in which he is forced to battle demonic forces.
Move breathes new life into the long-gestating project, which Spielberg has been trying to produce for a number of years. "Talisman" had been set up as a DreamWorks feature with Ed Zwick last attached to direct, but that effort was scrapped over budget and creative concerns. Prior to that, the project had been developed as a four-hour miniseries for ABC.
Kathleen Kennedy and Ehren Kruger ("The Ring") will exec produce with Spielberg. Kruger will also write the adaptation. DreamWorks TV principals Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will co-exec produce.
"Talisman" reps the second collaboration for Spielberg, DreamWorks and TNT. Parties last partnered on the $100 million, 12-hour oater "Into the West," which drew a strong 4.52 million total viewers to each installment in summer 2005.
TNT execs began discussing future collaborations with Spielberg just as "Into the West" was wrapping, and TNT/TBS senior veep of programming Michael Wright said "Talisman" emerged quickly as one of the director's passion projects.
"There is no one better to do this than Steven. If you look at the canon of his films, from 'Empire of the Sun' to 'A.I.,' he's mastered the story of young boys on a quest," Wright said.
"Talisman" marks TNT's third adaptation of a King work. Cabler most recently produced the summer anthology "Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King" and before that, the TV movie "Salem's Lot."
The action-adventure genre is already proving a potent ratings force for the cabler: Sunday's premiere of "The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines" drew a big 6.2 million total viewers and 2.9 million in the key 18-49 demo.
The Dean Devlin-produced sequel starring Noah Wyle was basic cable's No. 1 nonsports program in the adults 18-49 category last week. Pic was down a smidge from last year's original, which drew 7 million viewers.
Spielberg has embraced the multihour TV event in recent years, producing the Emmy-winning projects "Taken" for Sci Fi Channel and "Band of Brothers" for HBO. He is developing the paybox's WWII drama "The Pacific" and producing the supernatural saga "Nine Lives" for Sci Fi.
Hopper gets behind the wheel of King's 'Cadillac'
Source: Production Weekly
Dennis Hopper is in negotiations to star in "Dolan's Cadillac," based on one of Stephen King's most suspenseful short stories. Production is scheduled to begin in April, with Hopper playing James Dolan, Las Vegas' most ruthless and untouchable mob boss. A dark and riveting revenge tale about Las Vegas middle school science teacher Tom Robinson whose beloved wife Francey witnesses an execution in the desert and is then targeted for death by the mobster who committed it, notorious Vegas crimelord Jimmy Dolan. Dolan's vast wealth stems from his control of The Mandarin casino. Dolan succeeds in having Francey killed before she can testify against him. Faced with resistance from law enforcement, Tom sets out to avenge his wife's death on his own.
Who is Lost in The Dark Tower?
IGN has the exclusive scoop here!
IGN has exclusively learned that J.J. Abrams is poised to direct The Dark Tower, based on the Stephen King literary series. Abrams' production company Bad Robot had "no comment" on the matter.
Sources advised us that an official announcement is forthcoming. We have been unable to determine whether Dark Tower will be a film project or a TV miniseries, although the latter is a more likely prospect given the complex nature of King's seven-book series. Given Abrams' success on the small screen -- and King's well known love for the Abrams-produced TV series Lost -- the tube seems a better fit for The Dark Tower. That said, IGN now has reason to believe the project will be for the big-screen.
Sources also added that Abrams is indeed only producing Star Trek XI. It was recently reported that Abrams would not direct Trek XI, as many had assumed, but would instead turn his attention to a secret Paramount project titled Cloverfield. Might Cloverfield be a codename for The Dark Tower? Or a completely separate project?
(Interestingly enough, Entertainment Weekly did an interview last year with King, Abrams and his Lost producing partner Damon Lindelof, who reportedly brought a rare first edition of The Gunslinger to the meeting.)
Often described as King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower, as Wikipedia reminds us, "tells the tale of lead character Roland Deschain's quest for the 'Dark Tower.' The Dark Tower is often described in the novels as a real structure, and also as a metaphor. Part of Roland's fictional quest lies in discovering the true nature of the Tower. The series incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western elements."
"In the story, Roland is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers. The world he lives in is quite different from our own, yet it bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, as well as bearing magical powers and the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to either be, or be located at, the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have 'moved on,' and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams — mighty nations are being torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish from the face of the earth without a trace, time does not flow in an orderly fashion; even the sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and even his age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries."
This news about J.J. Abrams comes on the heels of Marvel's recent launch of the limited comic book series The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born.
from Cinematical:
NYCC Report: Stephen King Talks Dark Tower Comic, Feature Film Plans, Duma Key, Next Straub Book, Van Accident
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogsmithmedia.com%2Fwww.cinematical.com%2Fmedia%2F2007%2F02%2Fbook1-07-%283%29.jpg&hash=c0e44523092e6e39cc17dd1844cd4c65d7b36bda)
The biggest draw at this year's ComicCon was undoubtedly Kevin Smith, who has his legion of fans but is also known to be a fun public speaker. A close second, however, had to be writing giant Stephen King, who attracted a legion of his own faithful fans at his Saturday panel to discuss Marvel's Dark Tower comic book series. King arrived on stage wearing a Shaun of the Dead t-shirt and looking typically thin and frail; he was joined on the panel by comic creators Joe Quesada, Robin Furth, Peter David, Jae Lee and Ralph Macchio (no, not that one, and yes, someone made a joke about it.) Cinematical was on hand for this event, just in case King decided to drop any announcements about upcoming film adaptations of his work, including the most obvious possibility. He did end up talking up the potential of a Dark Tower film series, which he says is more of a real consideration now because of how well the comic adaptation has been received.
King seemed to throw cold water on the notion of Frank Darabont's involvement in the potential project, saying that he felt Darabont already has his hands full with The Mist and The Monkey -- looks like the latter project might be more of a reality than anyone realized up to now -- but he did finally make with the details about his rumored collaboration with J.J. Abrams on an adaptation. King has now clearly warmed up to the idea of seeing his most cherished work get a shot at feature film greatness. As for how he feels about previous adaptations of his work, he professed to not care too much one way or the other whether most of his film adaptations turn out good or bad. He also got a rise out of the audience when he gave a questioner a line-reading from Creepshow: "Meteor shit!" When asked at one point if there were any other works he'd like to see translated into a comic book form, King immediately blurted out "We were in the green room kicking around doing The Stand." More questions and answers below, all from random audience members.
Stephen King
Talk about the plans to bring The Dark Tower series either to the big screen or small screen. "Well, I've said no to everybody recently, because I just didn't think that the chances of it being a good movie....I mean, this is my life's work, in a sense. It's been there since the time when I was 22 years old and I finally finished it up somewhere in my 50s. So it's very important to me. Usually, about movies, I don't give much of a shit. My attitude is 'go make the movie and if it's good, that's terrific, and if it's bad, well then it will go to the video store, the back shelves of Blockbuster, and I still get royalties on the book.' I don't care that much. I hope they're good, because I'm a fan of the movies, but when the chance came to do The Dark Tower as a comic book, I thought this was the best of all possible worlds. This will look the way they're supposed to look. And when they brought in Jae Lee and Peter David, I just thought 'this is as good as it gets.' If you guys have seen some of the movies that have been made from Marvel comic books, you know they are really, literally as good as it gets -- a lot of times the books are better than the movies. They leave more space for your imagination.
But I will say this -- the comic book was so well-received, and the idea of it was so simple and yet so brilliant, that it rekindled a lot of interest in the movies. Frank did come to me. I know Frank from before either one of us had a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, just about. And Frank said 'gee, I'd like to do The Dark Tower' and I was like [whiney voice] 'Frank, give me a break. You've got The Mist, you've got The Monkey, you've got the prison stories -- maybe someday I'll write another prison story and you're gonna make that -- you know, stop putting so much on your plate that you'll never eat it all.' And I know J.J. Abrams work and Damon Lindelof, his collaborator on Lost. David is just a total comic-book freak and loves The Dark Tower. He likes those books and I trust those guys, cause they've got a lot on the ball. So, when they said 'We'd like to talk about doing this,' I said 'You know what? Why don't you option this and see if you can develop it.' And they said 'How much do you want for an option?' And I said 'nineteen dollars.' And that's what they paid me, and that's where it is."
Do you ever think about the different path your work might have taken if you hadn't been hit by that van? "Sure, I think about how my life would be if that never happened. One of the things that I did -- I immediately took it and imported it into The Dark Tower because I had all these issues come up between the real world and Roland's world, or between our world and Rolan's world, or between our world and Roland's world, because I wasn't sure, particularly when I was working on those books, which one was more real to me. I feel pretty good. I don't feel one-hundred percent, but who does, really? And so I have more of a tendency to think about how my life would have been if I had croaked, or if that day had never happened to me at all, or if I would up in a wheelchair or something like that. Basically, what I do with that accident is what I do with everything else in my life -- it just gets plugged into the work one way or the other. I'm sort of a Philistine about that -- I take what I've got and turn it into leftovers. That doesn't make any sense."
Will the character of Jack Sawyer be touched upon in the Dark Tower comic series? "Well, as far as Jack Sawyer goes, he belongs in a series of books that are sort of tangential but related to The Dark Tower. There are two books -- one called The Talisman and one called Black House -- and really, he should have a third book. That was always the plan." [auditorium erupts in applause]
What is the overall theme of The Dark Tower? "I would argue that if there's an overall theme to The Dark Tower, it's one of evolution. You don't get what you want immediately. Sometimes you have to try more than one time. I'm not going to get any closer to a spoiler than that, but if you've read all the books you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes you don't get it right the first time, or the second time, or the fiftieth time -- there has to be an evolutionary process. Let me just say this -- because I know that some of you are Harry Potter fans -- when you do a long volume work, it's essentially one work. When you get to the end, you're always going to piss off the fans. They are pissed off because it's over, and they are pissed off because whatever they had built up in their minds....its nothing you can do at the end. I was on Dark Tower sites, and they were talking about worm holes and quantum physics....I'm a guy who got a took a gift C in chemistry in high-school."
Would you ever be interested in working on a Marvel character? "I never say never to anything. If something comes up in my mind, these would be the people I would go to, obviously, because we have that working relationship, but right now, I can't think of a superhero....the only person I can think of is Charlie McGee from Firestarter, who can light her own fires."
You've mentioned actually doing a re-write of the series. Is that correct? "Yes, that's correct. It's a first draft. It was written over a long period of time, and I look at it as a work that's still in progress. That's why I re-did the first book. The vision that I had of what was going on got clearer as it went along. So, for instance, I looked back at the first book and I said to myself 'there's a lot of things I can do with this now, now that I know how everything turns out in the end.' I'm a really instinctual writer -- I don't work with an outline. I did have an outline of some of The Dark Tower stuff way back when, when I started, when I was stoned, and I lost it. I didn't have a clue, and I couldn't remember what was going on, and I had that poem by Robert Browning to draw on, to start, so I knew certain elements that I wanted to be in it, that were in the poem. So, when I got done, and I looked at it, I said This Horn of Eld should be there at the front. That's what you when you rewrite a book. I've got a book now called Duma Key, and there's a woman who has some bracelets and the bracelets are important, but they're not there until the end of the book. What I'm saying is, I know now some things I could do. The Dark Tower is one book, and I'd like go back and fix it up. Who knows -- I might end up novelizing their comic book."
Aren't rewrites a bad idea? We learned that from George Lucas. Don't go back and rewrite books, please. Greedo did not shoot first. "Here's what's not going to happen. What's not going to happen is a re-release as the 'special, revised, special version.' It will go out there with no fanfare."
How did you decide on an entry point in the series for the comic adaptation? "We talked about what a sort of doorway into this series might be like. Somebody, I don't know if it was me or if it was Peter or Ralph -- someone suggested there is this period -- first of all, Wizard & Glass was almost like a self-contained novel. It had the Romeo & Juliet theme to it, and it has a beginning, middle and the end. It's not like some of the other books, in the sense that it's just a continuing story, although I argue that The Dark Tower itself is a novel. It's one long book. Someone point out -- it might have been Robin -- that when we talked about Roland's 'young-manhood,' there's a little about it in the first book and a lot about it in the fourth book, when he sits by the turnpike and tells his friends the story about Magis and Susan Delgado and its a real story that picks up on where we meet Roland at the end of the first book. But then there's a blank spot in the middle where you know some of the things that he says. I really wanted Jae to do this -- I really, really want to see this -- I gotta see this -- there's a story about Jericho Hill where all these guys are screaming and attacking. It's like 300, the last bunch still holding out, and the guys that are against them all have blue faces like Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Roland is the only one who gets away, and he gets away on a pile of dead bodies. I really want to see that -- that's got to be a double panel."
When you're writing a character, do you ever put an actor to the character in your head? "I never see them. I don't know how to explain it. That's why seeing the artwork these guys put together is so fantastic. I don't really see characters. It's like I'm behind their eyes. Maybe if they looked in a mirror I would see them."
This reeks of bullshit but...
Source: Cinematical
Some Guy Is Blogging That He's On the Set of Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower'
Posted Jun 18th 2007 11:32AM by Christopher Campbell
In this day and age, nothing can be kept a secret for very long. But Paramount Pictures may have done a better job than most, as an anonymous source claims they are already producing an adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, and the first film is set to begin shooting this Friday with J.J. Abrams at the helm. (Ed: Yes, we know this is almost certainly nonsense, but it's still pretty funny.) This anonymous blogger (http://darktowermovie.blogspot.com/) claims to be signed on for multiple movies based on the fantasy series (his position is undisclosed). The blogger also claims the first adaptation is to have the biggest budget yet in Hollywood, and he says he doesn't know who has been cast as the lead. In his second post, put up on Saturday, he gives a very basic rundown of the shooting schedule for Friday and next week, most of which will be filmed outdoors on the Paramount lot.
Of course, if this was legit, it would be incredible news to fans of the books, fans of Abrams, and I guess fans of movies in general. Back in February, at the New York ComicCon, King announced the collaboration between he and Abrams for the project, but nothing was really said about when production on the film would begin, let alone that it would begin so soon. At the same time, IGN reported that Abrams was actually set to direct the adaptation and speculated that his secret Paramount project, titled Cloverleaf, was in fact The Dark Tower (there is no IMDb listing for a film called Cloverleaf). The blogger has already addressed the idea that people think he's a fake, but he insists that he is reporting the truth and that he has to be careful not to accidentally give away his identity because he signed a non-disclosure agreement. So, he has to be brief in details. He promises, though, that once shooting begins he will have photos up. Just in case he is legit, you may want to bookmark the blog now. Of course, if he's legit, I can't imagine it would be too hard for Paramount to figure out who he is and shut him down.
Stephen King on the state of horror
The writer discusses 'torture porn' films and what makes a good Stephen King movie.
Source: Los Angeles Times
The name of writer Stephen King is pretty much synonymous with horror. While he has also written stories that formed the basis for such films as "The Green Mile," "Stand By Me" and "The Shawshank Redemption," his fame and acclaim rest most firmly on "The Shining," "Carrie," "The Dead Zone" and countless other spooky, macabre tales.
The new film "1408," based on a short story by King, follows John Cusack as a nonbeliever who slums it as a writer of ghost tales — the author denies any similarities — and who finds himself in a hotel room dominated by a genuine, otherworldly evil force. Other upcoming King adaptations include "The Mist," to be directed by Frank Darabont, and "Cell," which has controversial director Eli Roth attached to direct.
During a recent interview, King spoke about, among other things, the state of horror, including the recent wave of "torture porn" films, the moral responsibilities of the artist and what makes a good Stephen King movie:
Is there such a thing as going too far? "Sure. I'm very uneasy about this film coming out with Elisha Cuthbert, 'Captivity.' There's an exploitation film about Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, and I don't want to see it. It makes me feel creepy just to think about it. It's almost like exploiting murder for the sake of murder. I understand 'torture porn.' It's a good phrase. But I would argue with you, there's a fine line there.... There's something going on in 'Hostel 2' that isn't torture porn, there's really something going on there that's interesting on an artistic basis. Sure, it makes you uncomfortable, but good art should make you uncomfortable."
Where's the line? "It's really hard to define, and I'm not trying to dodge the question at all, I'm just saying it varies from case to case. I guess I would say the line, although it's hard to generalize — and if you do generalize, you're really in danger of going down the road of censorship, and that's a bad thing — but if you've got a movie where some girl gets cut in half, like in "Hostel 2," here's the thing, we don't want that to happen to her. We get to understand a little bit about who she is; the character is pretty well drawn, she's lonely, she doesn't really know how to make friends and somebody's nice to her and she ends up in that situation and is going to be killed by somebody who's paid to do it. But we don't want it to happen. [But] if you put us in the situation, here's a chick in a slasher movie and we know she's going to get carved up and that's what we came to see, well, that puts you in the same position as some psycho out there cruising the interstates of America looking for road kill. And that to my mind is immoral. I'm not very interested in the dark side, in a sense. What I'm really interested in is how people deal with the dark side.
What makes a good Stephen King movie? "I like character. I think the best thing that happens to my stuff is when somebody will look past the horror label. If the filmmaker labels it in his mind and says, 'I'm making a horror movie,' that's a bad thing. I also don't have much respect for directors who say, 'Oh, no, this is not a horror movie.' I feel like in '1408,' you're supposed to go in there and you're supposed to sweat. I thought it was terrifying. It works on that level as it should. The primary consideration going into something like that , and I never think 'I want to horrify the reader,' I think I want to assault him and take his attention and make him forget what's going on in the outside would. That's what entertainment is supposed to do."
And a bad Stephen King movie? "I don't like movies that are cold. I don't like movies that approach it like an exercise. A movie, for instance, where, say, Jack Nicholson and his wife are trapped in a hotel and you don't feel any love between them, you don't feel any caring, it just becomes sort of an exercise. And that bothers me.... I want to go to a movie and root for them to live. I want to root for John Cusack to get out of that room alive. I want him to find a way out."
Doesn't he realize he's just pouring that can of worms all over himself?
stephen king has expressed his dissatisfaction with kubrick's shining many times. i think he's even said that he thinks the tv version with rebecca demornay and the guy from wings is superior. he's just pissed that kubrick took a book that was inherently stephen king and made it a film that was inherently stanley kubrick.
'Talisman' could be cursed again
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Steven Spielberg's latest attempt to bring "The Talisman" to the screen has hit a snag.
TNT's six-hour adaptation of the Stephen King-Peter Straub novel, executive produced by Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, has been put on hold because of budgetary issues, sources said.
The limited series, from DreamWorks TV, was announced by TNT with big fanfare in December and slated for a summer 2008 premiere.
After all scripts were recently completed, it became clear that their execution would require a larger budget than previously allocated, sources said.
The fantasy-horror project, about a boy's quest through this world and a parallel world known as the Territories to find a talisman that will save his mother, is said to involve elaborate special effects. TNT and DreamWorks are now addressing the financial issues and looking for ways to make the series, sources said.
"Talisman" has been a passion project for Spielberg and Kennedy, who have developed it since optioning the book about 25 years ago though Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.
Originally, "Talisman" was envisioned as a feature, with Richard LaGravenese writing a draft in the early 1990s.
In 2000, the project was set up at ABC as a four-hour miniseries executive produced by Spielberg and Kennedy. Mick Garris was brought in to write and direct the mini, but after he delivered the script to the network, ABC opted not to proceed with the project because of what was reported at the time as budget issues.
"I got a call from Kathleen Kennedy saying the network said they can't afford it," Garris told IGN FilmForce in a 2003 interview.
"Talisman" was resurrected as a feature again at Universal Pictures and DreamWorks. After a series of writers, including Ehren Kruger, Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro; directors, including Vadim Perelman and Ed Zwick; and production start dates, including July and then September 2004, the project was put on the back burner until Spielberg mentioned it to TNT's Michael Wright in summer 2005 after TNT and DreamWorks TV's collaboration on the 12-hour mini "Into the West."
Tobe Hooper gets 'Buick' in gear
Stephen King novel drives to bigscreen
Source: Variety
Tobe Hooper will direct the feature adaptation of Stephen King's novel "From a Buick 8."
Actor-writer Johnathon Schaech and Richard Chizmar wrote the script, which was optioned by Moonstone Entertainment chairman-CEO Etchie Stroh and Amicus Entertainment prexy Robert Katz.
"From a Buick 8" centers on a mysterious Buick stored in a state trooper barracks. After one of the troopers dies, his son becomes obsessed with the mysterious vintage automobile.
"From a Buick 8" will not be "your stock horror film by any means. There's a really cool, layered quality to the story," Hooper said. "The producers, writers and I shared the same sensibility about the project and responded to it in a similar way."
Stroh and Katz will produce the film under their partnership, which was announced at the Cannes Film Festival (Daily Variety, May 16). Also producing are Schaech and Chizmar, through their Chesapeake Films banner, and frequent King collaborator Mick Garris ("Masters of Horror," "The Stand").
Hooper, who helmed the original "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," has most recently directed episodes of Showtime's "Masters of Horror" and the miniseries "Ghosts" for Lionsgate.
George Romero was at one time attached to direct "Buick" for Chesapeake.
Moonstone Entertainment has produced and handled international sales for pics including "The Promise," from Chen Kaige; Robert Altman's "Cookie's Fortune"; and Mike Figgis' "Miss Julie."
Amicus produced "Stuck," which bowed at the Toronto Film Festival, and the upcoming remake of "It's Alive." Katz exec produced the Schaech starrer "Sea of Dreams," currently in theaters.
Schaech next stars in Screen Gems' "Prom Night," which bows in April. Chizmar's Cemetery Dance book imprint published "From a Buick 8."
Stephen King's 'It' heads to theaters
Dave Kajganich is adapting 1986 horror novel
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Warner Bros. is bringing Stephen King's landmark horror novel "It" to the big screen in an adaptation being produced by Lin Pictures and Vertigo Entertainment.
Dave Kajganich has been hired pen the script, which follows a group of kids called the Losers Club that encounter a creature called It, which preys on children and whose favorite form is that of a sadistic clown called Pennywise. When the creature resurfaces, the kids are called upon to regroup again, this time as adults, even though they have no memory of the first battle.
The novel is set in 1958 and 1985, though the feature version will be set in the present day.
"It" was the best-selling book of 1986 and in 1990 was turned into an ABC miniseries that starred John Ritter, Harry Anderson, Tim Reid, Annette O'Toole and Richard Thomas. Tim Curry played Pennywise.
The screen rights have bounced around town since then, and at one time landing at the WB and again at Sci Fi.
Kajganich, repped by UTA and Madhouse Entertainment, has stealthily made a name for himself with his dark materials, writing "The Invasion" for Warners and snagging gigs such as the "Pet Semetary" remake among others. He was recently tapped to write New Line's "Escape From New York" remake and is adapting "True Story" for Plan B and Paramount Vantage. The latter is a mystery drama.
Greg Silverman and Niija Kuykendall are overseeing for Warners.
J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof Will Work On 'Dark Tower' After 'Lost' Is Over
Source: MTV
Just as there are whispers in the jungles of "Lost," there have likewise been whispers in Hollywood that J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof — two of the masterminds behind the ABC television series — have been working on an adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel series "The Dark Tower." Now, those whispers are getting louder and clearer.
"Damon Lindelof and I talked to Mr. King," Abrams told IGN while promoting the upcoming "Star Trek" film. "We got the rights for ['Dark Tower'] as a film. Damon is obviously still on 'Lost' and we've been working on 'Star Trek' together. As soon as 'Lost' is done, hopefully we'll begin tackling that."
For his part, Lindelof has also been speaking about the Stephen King adaptation. As "Lost" wraps up its penultimate season and gets ready for the sixth and final year of the show, Lindelof told Lostpedia that his entire creative energy is currently focused solely on the series.
"We're just so focused on finishing 'Lost' that it's really hard to think about anything else," he said. "The last thing we want to think about is how to adapt a seven book series of, you know, basically the writer who we admire the most and look up to most and has inspired our work the most, and do anything with that. I think that it's such a daunting task. We have a pretty daunting task in front of us ourselves [with the end of 'Lost']."
Still, it's not as if the "Lost" showrunner hasn't spoken about "Dark Tower" in the past. He previously told AMC that he envisions the series on the same scope as Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
"There are always 'Dark Tower' conversations, but the figuring out of what this will look like as a movie has not begun," said Lindelof. "If 'The Dark Tower' were in the right hands, I would love to see seven movies executed just right. But you have to get people to see the first one to get them to come and see the second one."
I'm not convinced much will ever come of this, but I'm very much looking forward to its theoretical possibility.
Quote from: polkablues on May 04, 2009, 02:32:20 AM
I'm not convinced much will ever come of this, but I'm very much looking forward to its theoretical possibility.
Same here... I've always thought it would make a really cool animated series on like HBO or something... I don't know that it would translate very well to film at all, but I would like to see someone try.
LOBSTROCITIES!
At least Eastern Promises has already popped the cherry on naked guy fight scenes, which will make The Drawing of the Three a little easier.
My main concern is that the series simply doesn't have a large enough built-in fanbase to justify doing it right, which would mean seven films, one movie per book. This is a niche series, not a cultural touchstone the way that Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter are. And if they're not going to be able to do it right, that means they're going to end up having to do it wrong, either just making the first in the series and then abandoning it, or trying to condense the books into two or three movies, which would likely be disastrous.
Damon Lindelof Compares Challenge of Adapting 'Dark Tower' To Zack Snyder's 'Watchmen'
Source: MTV
As "Star Trek" makes its case for the new J.J. Abrams age of the franchise this weekend, he and fellow "Lost" creator Damon Lindelof continue to have early discussions about Stephen King's cult series of books "The Dark Tower." Lindelof confirmed Abrams' assertion that "Lost" is priority number one at the moments, but said the project would require at least as much care as Zack Snyder's adaptation of "Watchmen."
"Having seen Zack go through what he went through on 'Watchmen' in terms of saying of where can I digress from the material I just get headaches thinking about changing anything," Lindelof told MTV News. "It was the defining literary tale of my young adulthood into adulthood."
Lindelof is keenly aware of how that level of attachment can affect his approach to the project. "My reverence for Stephen King is now getting in the way of what any good writer would do first when they're adapting a book, which is take creative license in changing stuff," he explained.
If the Hollywood power duo indeed moves on to King's fantasy/Western tale when they finish with "Lost" it may be an extended commitment in addition to being a demanding one, given the scope of the seven-book series.
"Paramount is certainly looking at it as a franchise movie and thinking about sequels but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves," Lindelof said. "Ideas have been thrown around that are very informal at this point."
And more formal conversations very well may not be in the cards until the fates of Oceanic Flight 815's passengers are firmly on the ground for the the "Lost" finale.
Stephen King's Cell to be TV miniseries?
You may or may not remember that torture-porn filmmaker Eli Roth was once going to shoot an adaptation of horrormeister Stephen King's The Cell. Well, now comes news that not only is Roth not going to make such a movie, it's also not going to be a movie at all.
Fangoria reports that John Harrison (Syfy's Dune) is writing a four-hour TV miniseries based on the 2006 novel, in which the population of America is transformed into mindless, rampaging killers by a signal sent through their cell phones.
Here's what the magazine reported:
Harrison is scripting Cell for the Weinstein Co., which had originally planned to turn the book into a theatrical feature (with Eli Roth attached at one point to direct), but decided to abandon those plans and will be shopping the project to networks instead. Having served as assistant director/composer on the King-scripted Creepshow and helmed Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (including an adaptation of the author's "Cat From Hell"), Harrison considers Cell one of King's best recent books, with opening chapters that will make an incredible first 30 minutes on screen. The filmmaker adds that he doesn't see this as a zombie story so much as a Village of the Damned-esque chiller and enjoys the fact that the infected populace possesses a hive mentality. While he has been officially contracted to direct, he would certainly like to.
In 2007, Roth (the Hostel films) told SCI FI Wire that he considers the story timely and relevant. "I love the idea that technology turns on us," Roth said in an interview while promoting his second Hostel movie. "I have always wanted to make an apocalypse movie, and I like that this isn't a straight zombie movie, that these are humans who are crazy, whose brains have been scrambled by cell phones. I read that a quarter of the U.S. bee population has died off, and they don't know what's killing the bees. Is it a virus? There are people who think it could be cell phones, that they're screwing up the bees' radar, and they can't get back to their hives." (In fact, the study suggesting this has been discredited, the Los Angeles Times reported.)
EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have closed a deal to turn Stephen King's mammoth novel series The Dark Tower into a feature film trilogy and a network TV series, both of which will be creatively steered by the Oscar-winning team behind A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code.
Source: DeadlineNY
Ron Howard has committed to direct the initial feature film, as well as the first season of the TV series that will follow in close proximity. Akiva Goldsman will write the film, and the first season of the TV series. Howard's Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer will produce, with Goldsman and the author.
When Deadline revealed in April that Howard, Goldman and Grazer planned to team with King, Universal was battling Warner Bros—home of Goldsman's Weed Road--for the property. The multi-platform deal was so comprehensive, it took months to close. It will be announced later today by Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson, co-chairman Donna Langley, NBC Universal Television Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin, and NBC & Universal Media Studios Primetime Entertainment president Angela Bromstad, all of whom pulled it together.
I spoke with Goldsman and Howard, who have polled enough of their peers to be convinced what they are doing here has never been attempted: using a major studio's film and TV platforms simultaneously to tell a story. It is reminiscent of when Peter Jackson directed three installments of The Lord of The Rings, back to back, so that they could be released in three consecutive years.
"What Peter did was a feat, cinematic history," Howard told me. "The approach we're taking also stands on its own, but it's driven by the material. I love both, and like what's going on in TV. With this story, if you dedicated to one medium or another, there's the horrible risk of cheating material. The scope and scale call for a big screen budget. But if you committed only to films, you'd deny the audience the intimacy and nuance of some of these characters and a lot of cool twists and turns that make for jaw-dropping, compelling television. We've put some real time and deep thought into this, and a lot of conversations and analysis from a business standpoint, to get people to believe in this and take this leap with us. I hope audiences respond to it in a way that compels us to keep going after the first year or two of work. It's fresh territory for me, as a filmmaker."
Considered King's answer to JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth trilogy, The Dark Tower revolves around Roland Deschain, the last living member of a knightly order of gunslingers, and humanity's last hope to save a civilization that will crumble unless he finds the Dark Tower. Howard and Goldsman describe the world as "an alternate Americana, one part post-apocalyptic, one part Sergio Leone."
Goldsman first mentioned The Dark Tower to Howard and Grazer while they worked on A Beautiful Mind nearly a decade ago.
"Akiva said, 'Stephen will not let go of it, but it's like nothing else you've ever read,'" Howard recalled. "It was frustrating because it's one of those works where you read it, and then at odd times, the imagery and sensations just pop up in your mind. This is going to be an amazing life experience for us, trying to do justice to the story and the universe."
King granted an option—for $19, a number relevant to the plotline--to JJ Abrams and his Lost partners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. They never cracked the sprawling plotline and all the characters. Goldsman pounced when the rights were available, but saw the same problems until Howard suggested using film and TV platforms. Though Howard famously grew up on a TV screen on The Andy Griffith Show, he hasn't directed TV since the early 80s, but is eager to return.
The plan is to start with the feature film, and then create a bridge to the second feature with a season of TV episodes. That means the feature cast—and the big star who'll play Deschain—also has to appear in the TV series before returning to the second film. After that sequel is done, the TV series picks up again, this time focusing on Deschain as a young gunslinger. Those storylines will be informed by a prequel comic book series that King was heavily involved in plotting. The third film would pick up the mature Deshain as he completes his journey. They will benefit from being able to use the same sets cast and crew for the movie and TV, which could help contain costs on what will be a financially ambitious undertaking.
"We will certainly be looking to maximize both creative and fiscal opportunities by creating one enterprise that encompasses TV and movies," Goldsman said. "Some of the shooting will likely encompass both platforms, and that has never been done before. It's thrilling, we feel like kids in a candy story."
Goldsman is writing, and Howard said he and Grazer have cleared the decks to do this quickly. "I'm finishing The Dilemma, and then I don't have anything scheduled and I plan to work hard on this with Akiva and Brian," Howard told me. "We will refine our take on the feature and TV shows. We have a clear view of what we want to do, and we're lucky to have a company with the nerve to back us up on this venture."
Gross
Felt like ranking my top ten favorite Stephen King movies, nothin better to do...
1. You already know. No use in mentioning it, everyone's favorite.
2. Pet Sematary
3. Sometimes They Come Back
4. The Dead Zone
5. Misery
6. Carrie
7. The Shawshank Redemption
8. Stand By Me
9. Secret Window
10. Thinner
Shit I've seen, but I'm not familiar with enough to rank:
Cujo
Christine
Silver Bullet
The Green Mile
Shit I'm embarrassed to not have seen:
Children of the Corn
The BoogeyMan
Sleepwalkers
What a weird fucking list. Pet Sematary is number two and Hearts in Atlantis is actually on there?
90% of Stephen King movies are shit. His name is cursed.
But here are the top movies not even on your weird list:
Creepshow
Firestarter
Cat's Eye
The Running Man
Apt Pupil
The Mist
and don't feel embarrassed for not seeing Sleepwalkers (laughably bad) or the Boogeyman (isn't even a whole movie).
The Dark Half. Everybody forgets about The Dark Half.
Quote from: RegularKarate on May 17, 2012, 11:17:40 AM
90% of Stephen King movies are shit. His name is cursed.
Yeah, the outcome of his movies can be so all over the place, that's why I thought it was important to rank them according to my PERSONAL taste, and really by how much they scare me. I obviously haven't seen all of them, so my opinion is biased. I'm just working with what I know right now.
Quote from: RegularKarate on May 17, 2012, 11:17:40 AM
Firestarter
Cat's Eye
The Running Man
Apt Pupil
good to know these are worth seeing, but I really didn't like The Mist. Reading his biography and seeing how much his stories are fucked with when they become movies ( like the whole Lawnmower man premise ) has made me want to read more of his books lately.
EDIT: on second thought, Hearts really shouldn't be on there, that was just a throwaway to round out the list. I meant to put Thinner on there, but forgot, so that takes it's place. How you like dem apples?
Quote from: Reelist on May 16, 2012, 05:07:48 PM
The Green Mile
it's funny, i was actually going to bring this one up in the "Greatest Ending" thread...
One time: i was watching Green Mile, in the living room, with the family, on VHS, when it had first came out... it was so rare to find a movie that we all agreed upon, but this one was unanimously favored by the fam-clan. I remember almost getting up to take a piss, but then "WTF! Are bees flying out of his mouth!?" I sat my ass back down. At some point, i remember us all getting brought to tears, i really should see it in its entirety again sometime... anyhoo- point being: we were hooked. Once the film ended, we wiped our faces clean, took the deep breaths we needed, and turned to each other with smiles of satisfaction and confirmation of approval. a good evening. Success. It wasnt til i got up retreat to my room that i realized
i had completely and totally pissed my pants. and not like a "oops, i shouldnt have giggled so hard"-squirt, but like toddler potty-training/black-out drunk complete pants dousing..
so there you have it, the best ending ive ever seen, i guess, based on the
fact that not even a full bladder and complete pants pissing could distract me from the story i was watching
..but maybe it was something biological? because surely a reaction like that should have skyrocketed this to my #1 spot, and like i said, other then snippets from tv, that was the only time i had ever seen the whole thing in its entirety... and i never even bothered to buy it. and this isnt my first or only pants pissing story.
Quote from: 72teeth on May 17, 2012, 04:22:51 PM
i really should see it in its entirety again sometime..
I've been meaning to do the same, I think it's been over a decade since I've seen it, when I was just little boy much like you. I'll watch it later tonight after a couple beers, hopefully I don't end up in the same situation. Sucks you couldn't ask your fam for the courtesy of a pause, that a goddamn three hour long movie!
pauses were frowned upon in the household
i never realized that...
:shock: this might actually explain alot about alot
No more deconstructing-
I like Dolores Claiborne and Maximum Overdrive.
I'm glad someone does.
Those are two that I haven't seen in their entire, unedited versions. I love the look of Dolores Claiborne, though.
Quote from: 72teeth on May 17, 2012, 04:22:51 PM
i had completely and totally pissed my pants.
found the sound clip (http://www.hark.com/clips/vbdgldrdsy-he-done-piss-his-pants) from The Green Mile. lol
:shock: :yabbse-huh: :? :yabbse-sad: :yabbse-huh: :yabbse-smiley: :) :yabbse-grin:
:rofl: thats crazy, toooodally fergot about that part!
I Am Become Movies
Quote from: Reelist on May 16, 2012, 05:07:48 PM
My top ten favorite Stephen King movies
3. Sometimes They Come Back
Now, this is a joke. Just watched it again and boy did it not hold up. I gotta stop relying on my 8 year old brain for movie suggestions. I remember it freaking me out so much as a kid because of how relentless and invincible the bullies are, and imagining being at such a vulnerable place in your life that even your Dad is constantly in fear...
The ghouly makeup was still cool, but there wasn't nearly enough of it. If they were in the ghouly makeup for the entire 3rd act, I might still like it.
New rule: If you thought the movie was scary as a kid, read the book as an adult!
J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot To Option Stephen King Novel '11/22/63′ For TV Series
BY NELLIE ANDREEVA | Deadline
J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot is in negotiations for the rights to Stephen King's bestselling 2011 novel 11/22/63. The deal is being done through Warner Bros TV, where Bad Robot is under a deal. I hear the plan is to adapt the book as a TV series or miniseries, likely for cable.
11/22/63 centers on Jake, an unassuming divorced English teacher who stumbles upon a time portal that leads to 9/9/1958 and goes on a quest to try and prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, which occurred on November 22, 1963. Bad Robot, which received an early renewal for NBC's Revolution earlier today, had been looking to expand its TV business to cable.
In addition to Revolution, the company has CBS drama Person Of Interest also renewed for next season. The deal for 11/22/63 comes on the heels of CBS' green light for a drama series based on King's novel Under The Dome, which will air this summer.
You know, I think Stephen King is great. He's the Dickens of our time but with a fixation on much darker things.
A book that I'd love to see adapted is Duma Key. That was a damn good story.
Anybody else watching "Under the Dome"?
We're two episodes in and it's bad. Real bad. Bad writing, bad acting, bad dog wrangling, bad everything.
I'm going to keep watching it to see how bad it gets.
Scott Cooper Replacing Ben Affleck As Director Of Stephen King's 'The Stand'
BY MIKE FLEMING JR | Deadline
BREAKING: Warner Bros has set Scott Cooper to re-write and direct The Stand, the seminal post-apocalyptic Stephen King novel. That means that while the studio has Ben Affleck as its new Caped Crusader for Batman Vs. Superman, Affleck has withdrawn from The Stand. He had been set in late 2011 to write the script and direct. Affleck is busy directing and starring in his scripted adaptation of Dennis Lehane's Live By Night for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros is teamed on the project with CBS Films, which is co-producing and co-presenting and possibly financing the project together.
Published in 1978, the mammoth novel covered a biological apocalyptic disaster that decimated the population. The survivors then had to try and piece together a new form of humanity and it became a good vs evil struggle, with elements of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. King was at his best, both in creating depictions of the demise of civilization and in the arcs of characters good and bad who became important in a new order. The novel is so sprawling that I always wondered how it could be compressed into a feature, and it was turned into a solid miniseries. Now, Cooper will try to mount what for Warner Bros continues to be a big priority project.
Roy Lee and Mosaic are producing for Warners and Jon Berg is the studio exec. Cooper is currently developing Creek with Leonardo DiCaprio, and his next film, Out Of The Furnace, is released December 6. That one was produced by Appian Way and Scott Free. Cooper, the actor-turned-filmmaker who made his breakthrough with the Jeff Bridges-starrer Crazy Heart, is represented by CAA and attorney Darren Trattner.