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Remember way back in the mid-80s, when the mass paperback version of Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman came out?
That edition included this blurb on the cover: "Soon to be a Major Motion Picture!"
More than two decades later, the long-delayed project will finally see the light...most likely as a TNT "event" mini-series during the summer of 2008.
Those of you who've read the book know that it's very cinematic, exciting stuff. Hopefully TNT gets it right.
Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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It'll be a travesty. Just like It. One of King's best books ever, and it was destroyed. They'll destroy The Talisman as well. Somehow, The Stand managed not to be overly horrible, which shocked me, but I doubt King is going to be as involved in this as he was in that.
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Well, parts of It were very good. However, most of the "Middle-Aged Adult" portions were extremely forgettable.
King's involvement in a TV project is no guarantee of something not sucking. Case in point: Rose Red. Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I watched The Stand right after reading the book. "Not overly horrible" is a decent description of the miniseries. At least they managed to get a fair number of things right.
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Was that the one with the Mickey Mouse glove coming out of the sky at the end and flicking people over?
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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I just think that a movie version of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon would be cool.
And Eyes of the Dragon. Hollywood is in such a fantasy phase, so they should do the Stephen King fantasy novel.
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quote:Originally posted by Puffy Treat: It was one of King's best books ever?
Well, parts of It were very good. However, most of the "Middle-Aged Adult" portions were extremely forgettable.
King's involvement in a TV project is no guarantee of something not sucking. Case in point: Rose Red.
Valid point. And yes, for my money, other than the Dark Tower, the best books he's written are The Talisman, It and The Stand. In that order. Those are the three I can reread (and have done) over and over. After that comes Firestarter and The Dead Zone, which are probably his most atypical works.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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It is my favorite horror novel of all time. I've got The Talisman sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read. I hated the tv version of The Stand. It was SO watered-down, and I didn't care too much for the casting (though Gary Sinise was good). That was not the way to tell that story.
I keep wondering if it's Stephen King ruining his own stuff -- sort of a failure to be objective about it -- or if the problem is always letting Mick Garris have his hands on everything that ruins these masterpieces.
I mean The Stand is one of the most towering literary works of the last half of the last century.
But... Anyway. I saw some folks talking King so I got excited. The Talisman is one of a handful of his books I haven't read. Still plan to. Should, soon.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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Personally, I would have liked to see a decent version of the Langoliers. That was an incredibly creepy story...and could have been a much better movie.
I thought the Stand was an OK series. It was an amazing book...but a difficult one to translate to film.
I really think that King is a difficult author to film. It seems that people have a tough time translating his suspense into film form.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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Wasn't "Needful Things" a tv-movie or miniseries? I remember really liking that one. It reminded me of Pet Semetary.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Lupus: Personally, I would have liked to see a decent version of the Langoliers. That was an incredibly creepy story...and could have been a much better movie.
When I first read the novella, I was stunned. I mean, it was the first original thing I'd seen done with time in decades. He should have gotten a Hugo or Nebula or something for it.
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quote:Originally posted by TL: I keep wondering if it's Stephen King ruining his own stuff -- sort of a failure to be objective about it -- or if the problem is always letting Mick Garris have his hands on everything that ruins these masterpieces.
Actually, he's talked about this. As far as he's concerned, nothing a movie does has any effect on his books, which are the real thing. They're all just fanfic as far as he's concerned.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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The Talisman is a great story. I was pretty impressed. Most of King is hit or miss for me, and very few of the "horror" stories do much for me. I have always loved "Pet Semetary" mostly because it was the first novel I read cover to cover. But my all-time favorite movie is "Shawshank Redemption" which of course is based on one of his novella's.
And I think most of his made for TV stuff has stunk something awful. But thats just me.
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