• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Stephen King attempitng to regain film rights to some of his most famous stories

S

Slayven

Member
http://bloody-disgusting.com/topnews/3456118/stephen-king-taking-back-rights-biggest-horror-stories/

One of the biggest stories of the year hit a few weeks back over at Zerner Law, who discovered that King recently filed notices that he intends to terminate the transfer of his licenses for the movies, The Dead Zone, Cujo, Creepshow, Children of the Corn, Cat’s Eye, and Firestarter.

The termination notices were mailed on August 31, 2016, and will be effective as of September 1, 2018. One year from this coming Friday King will be celebrating, probably with fava beans and a nice chianti.

In layman’s terms, King will have regained full rights to his stories The Dead Zone, Cujo, Creepshow, Children of the Corn, Cat’s Eye, and Firestarter next September. While the current rights holders will still be able to distribute their previously produced works, they will no longer be allowed to make new works, including sequels or remakes of the aforementioned titles:
Click to expand...

In regards to the other works, here are some that have been in the pipeline that better start filming within the next 354 days.

Akiva Goldsman is set to remake King‘s Firestarter for Universal Pictures. Goldsman will be co-writing the screenplay with Scott Teems (Rectify). Released in 1984, Mark L. Lester directed the first adaptation about a couple who participated in a potent medical experiment who gain telekinetic ability and then have a child, played by Drew Barrymore, who is pyrokinetic. A miniseries follow-up to the film, entitled “Rekindled”, was released in 2002 on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Sunn Classic Pictures, veteran producer/director Mr. Lang Elliott, in 2015 announced plans to produce, distribute and reboot films from its library. One of the most popular properties in the library is the film based on the Stephen King book entitled “Cujo” that starred Dee Wallace Stone in Sunn’s 1983 motion picture version. The reboot is currently titled C.U.J.O., and stands for “Canine Unit Joint Operations”. The screenplay has been completed and development is underway with Lang Elliott set to direct. DJ Perry was set to star. Lewis Teague directed the 1983 adaptation in which a friendly St. Bernard named “Cujo” contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town. It sounds as if the remake will integrate military into the story?
Click to expand...

That C.U.J.O sounds like a bootleg

51GFYEJRV9L._SY445_.jpg
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
I hope Frank Darabont still gets to keep the rights for The Long Walk. I feel like King trusts him and I don't see the title on that list.
 
L

liquidtmd

Banned
I kinda applaud this, but more importantly - The Man's Best Friend movie in the OP. Sheedy and Henrikson in a terrible looking movie I've never heard of?

* Googles to see if real, sees the image

hqdefault.jpg


I'M IN!!!

1306949828_getting_in_the_car_like_a_boss.gif
 
B

Boem

Member
One of my favorite childhood memories is walking into a video rental store and finding incredibly crappy King movies. There was a seemingly endless supply of them, and they were always hilarious to my young eyes. I've definitely seen the crappy ones more often than the ones that are actually good.

It's funny how King movies/tv shows range from amazing to outright, confusingly horrible. There's not much middle ground there.
 
K

kevin1025

Banned
I have to imagine he's doing this so that some of them can be added into the Hulu show, Castle Rock. Maybe every adaptation is a season, something like that.
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
S

SillyEskimo

Member
Boem said:
One of my favorite childhood memories is walking into a video rental store and finding incredibly crappy King movies.
Click to expand...

Boy have I got good news for you. It looks like King is going to ensure that legacy continues for another generation with crappy remakes.
 
B

Boem

Member
More_Badass said:
Go watch Misery. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her performance, but the whole movie is a claustrophobic thriller

And The Shining
Click to expand...

I've said this before, but I really prefer Kubrick's Shining to King's later version. I know and understand King's criticisms of the Kubrick adaption, and I can totally see where he's coming from. But Kubrick's Shining still stands tall as a classic for me. The later version, even though it was closer to the book, didn't work nearly as well for me.

Also, I thought the recent tv adaption of 11/23/63 was really good, although I never got around to finishing it. But the first half at least felt like one of those 'King done right' adaptions.

Edit: And I'm actually kind of happy that that show got mentioned while I was writing this post. Check it out people!
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
Bitch Pudding said:
There's already a Long Walk movie, one of the best movies of the 80ies.

And yes, I also read the book ;).
Click to expand...

Whaaaat? Link? I've looked and could never find anything.

Also, I still would love to see Frank's vision. Dude has yet to let me down with a King adaptation.
 
T

Teggy

Member
HomerSimpson-Man said:
The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist are pretty good, especially the first two.

EDIT: can't believe I forgot The Shining, and especially Stand by Me since there it doesn't scream Stephen King to me at first. Then there is Misery.
Click to expand...

The Running Man! (although from what I understand it is veeery loosely based)
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Einchy said:
Not a movie but 11.22.63 was fantastic. Feels like it went overlooked because it was on Hulu in a time when not a lot of people had it.
Click to expand...

Not a movie? So a TV series or mini-series or something like that?
 
H

HomerSimpson-Man

Member
enigmatic_alex44 said:
I see.

I've only seen The Mist from those and it was...okay I guess.
Click to expand...

The type of adaptations for his books vary wildly that it's easy to forget it's Stephen King sometimes.

You can go from something like Stand by Me, Misery, and The Shawshank Redemption to more horror themed material like The Shining, The Mist, IT, etc.

Teggy said:
The Running Man! (although from what I understand it is veeery loosely based)
Click to expand...

Haha, yes! A prime example of varying adaptations that you wouldn't have thought that this Arnold action movie was originally a Stephen King story, lol.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
I'd love a new Children of the Corn. Lovecraftian horror, killer child cult, the isolation of the corn fields and distant town
 
cr0w

cr0w

Old Member
Salem's Lot is fantastic, though it's a TV movie. The original.

The remake isn't half bad, either.
 
E

EverythingShiny

Member
Sgt. Kabukiman said:
This guy's survivability is goddamn amazing. He'll never stop.
Click to expand...

Ugh, I was just going to quote that part of the article. Fuck Akiva Goldsman, leave Stephen King's work alone. He already helped to ruin The Dark Tower, I don't want him messing with Firestarter too.

Rectify is amazing tho, so maybe if Scott Teems does most of the work...
 
M

Mortimer Brewster

Member
I'm curious to see how this lawsuit handles Creepshow and Cat's Eye they are both Anthologies with some stories taken from Night Shift and others written for their respective movies. For instance Cat's Eye, the first two stories Quitters Inc and The Ledge were both adaptations from Night Shift but the 3rd story with General the Cat fighting the Troll was written for the movie.
 
C

crimnos

Member
I will happily take a real third Creepshow movie (that third one doesn't count) or anything else he wants to do with Creepshow, even with Romero sadly gone. Plenty that could be done with that license.
 
C

Chojin

Member
liquidtmd said:
I kinda applaud this, but more importantly - The Man's Best Friend movie in the OP. Sheedy and Henrikson in a terrible looking movie I've never heard of?

* Googles to see if real, sees the image

hqdefault.jpg


I'M IN!!!

1306949828_getting_in_the_car_like_a_boss.gif
Click to expand...


I saw it in the theater. Was worth it.
 
S

Saya

Member
We could use new Salems Lot and Silver Bullet movies as well. Time is right for a remake. Also, someone should just adapt The Talisman while they're are at it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mike Flanagan to adapt a TV series based on Stephen King's "The Dark Tower"
34
2K
jufonuk replied
Indiana Jones: let's take a look at some of the most important games in the series (1982 - 2013)
Analysis Retro
21
5K
ArgleBargleFooferah replied
[Bustle] Please Respect Mia Khalifa’s Rebrand
6 7 8 9 10
499
63K
Maiden Voyage replied
What's Next for 'The Dark Tower' Cinematic Universe
9
2K
torre_avenue replied
‘The Dark Tower’ Director Says Television Series Will Be ‘Totally Canon’
35
5K
120v replied
Top Bottom