Stephen King goes to the movies... (1 Viewer)

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, just another old story about a King project, this one that never got off the ground. Maybe some people know this but when Sam Peckinpah died he and King were working on a script called The Shotgunners. This would have been in 1984. King had written the original screenplay and it ended up in Peckinpah's hands. He read it and loved it. He and King began a conversation about making it and Peckinpah suggested changes to the script that King thought were fantastic. Sadly, they never got past the rewriting stages of the script as Sam would pass before they could get the picture made. So, we once did have the potential of seeing a Sam Peckinpah/Stephen King collaboration.

End result was King never got the picture made but he did turn the screenplay into a novel called The Regulators under his Richard Bachman pseudonym. Not sure if the suggestions that Peckinpah made are somehow part of the novel. Some feel this still would make a great King picture and are surprised, since it was actually a screenplay first, it has never been made.

Read a bit more about it here if you have an interest:

Twenty-Five Years Later, THE REGULATORS Remains Stephen King's Most Adaptable, Unadapted Novel

The novel, written by King, under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman and the Sam Peckinpah adaptation that never was.

www.fangoria.com

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Odd but now that I mentioned The Regulators, a new script has been approved by King and the picture is going into production with an expected release in 2023.

Sadly Revival is still shelved for now.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

‘The Regulators’ Film Based On Stephen King Novel In Works At Bohemia Group; George Cowan Tapped To Pen The Script

Bohemia Group has optioned film rights to Stephen King’s bestseller 'The Regulators', tapping George Cowan to adapt it for the big screen.

deadline.com

“I’m delighted that the excitement of ‘The Regulators’ is coming to the screen,” King told Deadline. “This is going to be good.”

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I like that he quotes Raymond Chandler...

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

A comment on some of the pictures made of his stories:

“There are some that leave me cold, like Christine, and there are some that I actively dislike, like Firestarter, Children of the Corn, and The Shining.” -Stephen King

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I have not checked but I believe Mr. Harrigan's Phone is available on Netflix as of today. I plan on this being my horror watch for today.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, it is October and with that comes the Blu-ray release of the latest Stephen King film to come to the big screen, The Boogeyman. I guess this was released to theaters this past June, I don't recall it playing anywhere near me. However, I will probably check it out this month as part of my horror nights. I believe it got good reviews.

 

[Malcolm R]

Well, it is October and with that comes the Blu-ray release of the latest Stephen King film to come to the big screen, The Boogeyman. I guess this was released to theaters this past June, I don't recall it playing anywhere near me. However, I will probably check it out this month as part of my horror nights. I believe it got good reviews.

Over $82 million worldwide and opened domestically on over 3,200 screens. It was all over the place near you.

Not bad for a little film that was originally conceived to go direct to Hulu.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Over $82 million worldwide and opened domestically on over 3,200 screens. It was all over the place near you.

Not bad for a little film that was originally conceived to go direct to Hulu.

Yes, well done for the picture. Sadly the primary theaters I used to go to closed thanks to the pandemic. So, what is left near me is a big multiplex in a shopping center. I try to mostly avoid that shopping center and so, I never notice anymore what has actually been released there. Most of the time I would check they would have the same film playing on multiple screens. I did go there to see Barbie with a group of women and Barbie was on, I think, a half dozen of the screens.

I also saw Asteroid City in that multiplex and the power went out about 20 minutes in. I think the presentation at this place tends to be pretty bad and I used to always avoid it. Now, it is the closest cinema to me and generally the last one I want to go to.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, it seems Mike Flanagan is working on a new adaptation of The Dark Tower that promises to be more faithful to the novels than the last adaptation of the series, which honestly, I think was botched fairly badly. Flanagan does know his way around adapting King for the screen. I still would love to see his adaptation of King's novel Revival make it to the screen, King reported that he thought it was incredible when he read it. I think Flanagan was the right guy to make that picture but as with other attempts to make it, the backers got cold feet because of the cost to make the picture. It would be a large scale horror film and so would require a larger budget than most horror pictures getting made today. I hope it eventually happens but if Flanagan is now working on The Dark Tower, which I also assume would be a large budget production, it would probably be a long way off.

I still remember how big the first attempt at The Dark Tower was and that it was meant to be the start of a major franchise. I recall being on vacation in Maine and walking into a store with a big magazine rack and seeing the film featured on several magazine covers. That film turned out to be kind of a mess and did not at all really pull you into the world of the novels. I may revisit it as Flanagan works on his version. I did not read all of The Dark Tower novels and so, I'm not well versed in where the whole thing went.

 

[Tino]

Was just watching The Dead Zone, which just got upgraded to 4K on iTunes.

One of the best King adaptations. Beautiful lyrical powerful and tragic. A wonderful love story above all.

I tear up at the perfect ending every time. Tremendous film from David Cronenberg.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Christopher Walken was perfectly cast in The Dead Zone. He really sells the role and makes you empathize with his character. I seem to recall Cronenberg commenting somewhere how unlikely it was that a protagonist in one his films would go by the name Johnny Smith.

While the film isn't as famous as some of King's higher profile adaptations, it is a fine film.

- Walter.

 

[Sean Bryan]

I always enjoyed that one.

Plus, it inspired this!

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Was just watching The Dead Zone, which just got upgraded to 4K on iTunes.

One of the best King adaptations. Beautiful lyrical powerful and tragic. A wonderful love story above all.

I tear up at the perfect ending every time. Tremendous film from David Cronenberg.

I agree with Tino that The Dead Zone is in the running as one of the best to potentially the best King adaptation. I love Kubrick's The Shining, I know many changes were made to it and King does not care for it much, but I think it is a great film. Cronenberg's picture though I think succeeds on every level, great atmosphere and performances and it is faithful to King's novel. So, I think it has to be considered one of the best Stephen King films so far.