Here is an interesting article titled "13 ways Stephen King Could (Soon) Scare The Crap Out Of Us." I've included the news portion of each movie, but check out the entire article.
1. UNDER THE DOME: "King is joining sci-fi movie legend Steven Spielberg to bring his latest story to life. The show is described as a supernatural thriller and is currently being developed for Showtime."
2. THE DARK TOWER: "What can we say about The Dark Tower that hasn't already been said? The ambitious movie-turned-TV-series-turned-movie-agai
3. BAG OF BONES: "Unlike The Dark Tower, Bag of Bones has a solid cast, a green light and studio backing. The novel is being adapted into a TV movie for A&E and will star Pierce Brosnan as the unlucky writer and Jason Priestley as his literary agent. Priestley just can't stay away from Stephen King, can he? After working on Haven, he must have caught the supernatural bug!"
4. CARRIE: "Earlier this year, it was confirmed that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (who worked on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the graphic novel version of The Stand) was taking on the latest incarnation of Carrie. His version will supposedly be closer to King's novel than Brian De Palma's 1976 take. If you've read the book, you know that Sissy Spacek looks absolutely NOTHING like Carrie. But that's the magic of Hollywood for you!"
5. IT: "In 2009, it was reported that Warner Bros. was set to make an R-rated version of the film, with Dave Kajganich writing the screenplay. He will attempt to give the story new life as a single movie instead of spreading it out over multiple sequels. In other words, the remake will cut the fat."
6. CELL: "In 2007, it was announced that Eli Roth was bringing Cell to the big screen, but he dropped out two years later. In 2009, King himself claimed that it was still moving along, and there are reports that it could be adapted into a miniseries. Cell is still listed as in development on IMDB Pro, which means someone out there is keeping it alive."
7. THE STAND: "In 1994, the novel was turned into a TV miniseries that starred Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe. Harry Potter's David Yates and Steve Kloves are in talks with Warner Bros. to direct and write the remake, which could be produced as a trilogy."
8. 11/22/63 : "Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme bought the rights to 11/22/63 and is set to write, produce and direct the film adaptation. So far he hasn't found a studio to distribute it, but he's still aiming to start production in fall 2012."
9. PET SEMATARY: "Earlier this year, we learned that Paramount had plans to remake the film with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schneider producing. And a few weeks ago it was reported that Alexandre Aja (Piranha 3D) was their top choice to direct. We're not sure how closely King will be involved (if at all), but we do know the studio is still developing it. Why? Because when movies about vampires and werewolves die down, cats, dogs and possessed children are next in line."
10. FIRE STARTER: "The book was originally adapted in 1984 with Drew Barrymore in the title role, and then Syfy produced a sequel in 2002 called Rekindled. But now a reboot is on the way that will supposedly have a little more edge. In December 2010, Mark L. Smith (Vacancy) was hired to write the script."
11. THE TALISMAN: "The Talisman has been developed, killed off and then redeveloped again for several years. First as a miniseries for TNT and then as a feature film. The movie is still on hold, but the graphic-novel adaptation hit shelves over a year ago."
12. THE TEN 0'CLOCK PEOPLE: "Director E.J. Meyers is shooting an independent adaptation of The Ten O'Clock People that's scheduled to start shooting in Rhode Island this fall."
13. CREEPSHOW: "Creepshow was a sleeper hit that spawned a few sequels and a graphic novel. In 2008 a pilot was shot for a Creepshow TV series called RAW, and Warner Bros. is supposedly interested in producing a remake of the original film. But no further developments have been announced."
SOURCE: HERE
Looks like I'll have to get Showtime. For a few months, at least.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see Under the Dome. I think that one could be pretty good. Of course you know it will probably bring all the 'rip off of the Simpsons Movie' idiots out in force again.
ReplyDeleteHow sad is it that out of all the projects on that list, "Bag of Bones" -- directed by (shudder) Mick Garris -- is the only one that's definitely getting made?
ReplyDeleteIf all you want is special effects, then Mick Garris' work isn't going to stack up for you. But he's a strong story teller, and faithful to King's work -- except sleepwalkers!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Garris is a TERRIBLE storyteller. With occasional exceptions, his scenes rob their source material of subtlety and context, and just sit there onscreen without bringing the material to life in any meaningful way. He chooses camera angles poorly, and has a tendency toward overlighting things.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Stand" or "The Shining," (not to mention "Desperation" or the laughably-bad "Riding the Bullet") he takes excellent material and dilutes it to the point of being laughable. Especially "The Stand," which has aged very, very poorly; every scene with Trashcan Man, for example, is so awful that it verges on incompetence. Flagg's scenes aren't much better, and the Julie Lawry scenes are worse even than ole Trashie's. The fact that as much of that miniseries still works as it does is due solely to a mostly excellent cast and to the strength of the source material. It also gets a boost from a good score by W.G. "Snuffy" Walden.
A few examples of recent movies that I would say exhibit good storytelling: "Captain America," "Super 8," "The Fighter," "True Grit," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "Black Swan," "Bridesmaids," "Toy Story 3," "Drive," and "Warrior." On television, you can find it on shows like "Breaking Bad," "Game of Thrones," "The Walking Dead," and "Mad Men." (You can't find it on "Haven.") THAT'S good storytelling; Garris has made nothing that looks anything other than shabby when stacked up against those titles.
Nobody elected me to the Supreme Court of Good Taste in the Arts, so I'm under no delusions that my opinion counts for more than anyone else's. But I've never heard a pro-Mick Garris argument that had even the slightest ring of validity to it. The guy is a hack; an untalented hack who time and time again makes a mess out of perfectly great Stephen King material. King writes at the upper echelons of popular literature; he deserves to have his work adapted by people who are working at or near a similar talent level to his.
Garris is nowhere even close. He just isn't. I'm glad some people like what he does, but I'm not one of them, and I suspect I never will be.
it seems King like him . . . right?
ReplyDeleteKing definitely seems to like him. I think they're actually good friends. And I'm sure Mick Garris is a very likeable guy, which is why I hope I never meet him and have to justify my opinions of his work.
ReplyDeleteI don't always agree with King's opinions on movies, especially when it comes to the adaptations of his own work. His tendency to support Garris is definitely one of the instances in which I disagree with him.
totally agree! I don't always see things the "king way" when it comes to his movies, either. Actually. . . dare I say that I liked The Shining -- Kubrick's was great. I also liked Garris' version. It just felt like Garris was the book brought visual, while Kubrick's was the wow-and-pow of movies.
ReplyDelete--David
(yes, blogger still won't let me post under my own name. . . because bloger is special like that)
Blogger won't let you comment on your own blog. Priceless...
ReplyDeleteI thought Garris's version of The Shining had some good scenes, but the kid playing Danny is SO awful that it's almost hard to believe. Part of that -- a BIG part, I'd imagine -- is actually King's fault, because he wrote dialogue that very few child actors (much less child actors that young) would be capable of delivering realistically. He got away with it in the novel, because each reader can just do the acting for him/herself; he ought to have taken that into consideration when writing the screenplay, though. I get that Danny is precocious and all, but the realities of filmmaking don't always allow for that sort of thing.
Kubrick at least had the sense to make Danny a realistic little boy and to turn most of his precociousness into something that is hinted at, but not explored; subtext rather than text. Film is great at that, assuming that the filmmakers take advantage of it.
Garris is simply too literal a storyteller to achieve those kinds of effects, and it's a major flaw in his work.