Editorials
5 Upcoming Stephen King Adaptations We Can’t Wait to See!
As we’ve discussed in detail before, Stephen King adaptations can be very hit-or-miss, with the majority of them being more miss than hit. For every Carrie or Misery there is a Dreamcatcher or an Under the Dome. That being said, it’s hard not to get to excited when a new film or television adaptation of one of King’s works is announced. Not all of them come to fruition, or they spend years in development hell, but when production actually starts on an adaptations it is certainly capable of getting your adrenaline pumping! The five adaptations on this list are some of the Stephen King adaptations that we are looking forward to the most.
It
After a failed attempt at adapting It with True Detective director Cary Fukunaga at the helm, Mama director Andy Muschietti was brought on as a new director. The summer of 2016 was filled with productions updates as the child actors were cast, the time period was revealed (the 80s!), and Pennywise’s new look was unveiled. Seeing as how filming wrapped in September, everything seems to have gone according to plan. It is scheduled to be released on September 8, 2017, and audiences will finally get the (hopefully) R-rated It adaptation that the 1990 ABC mini-series wasn’t able to deliver. Expectations are higher than ever for this one!
Gerald’s Game
Gerald’s Game was considered un-filmable for the longest time. It is, after all, about a woman named Jessie who accidentally kills her husband mid-coitus while she is handcuffed to the bed. The rest of the novel is set entirely in the bedroom as Jessie struggles to escape her new prison. Lucky for us, Mike Flanagan is attempting to film the un-filmable and Netflix may finance and distribute it! Flanagan’s involvement with the project was announced over two years ago, but he got sidetracked with Ouija: Origin of Evil. Now it looks like things are moving forward, which is a good thing for fans of King’s underrated novel.
The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower has had a long road to make it to the big screen and for good reason. Spanning eight novels and more than 4,000 pages, the series is home to King’s densest mythology. After several false starts, production on the film finally began back in March, with director Nikolaj Arcel at the helm. A release date has been set for February 17, 2017, which is an interesting time to release the epic. February is known for being a genre film dumping ground, but after Deadpool’s success from the same weekend last year it’s understandable that Sony is feeling confident with that date. The film may divide fans, as it is being touted as a new take on the series rather than a direct adaptation of the novels.
Mr. Mercedes
The story behind the television adaptation of the first installment in Stephen King’s Detective Bill Hodges trilogy is a bittersweet one. The late Anton Yelchin was cast as the mentally deranged ice cream truck driver Brady Hartsfield just 26 days before his untimely death. Understandably, the project has hit a road block (Brendan Gleeson was also cast as Brady’s nemesis Detective Bill Hodges). While a 2018 release on AT&T’s Audience Network could still be in the cards, it may be a while before we see Mr. Mercedes brought to our television screens. Still, there are three books (and three seasons’ worth) of material to use for a series, and it would be nice to see t his project move forward.
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
I’m sneaking this one in here since it’s not really a Stephen King adaptation (though I will anticipate the comments that call me out for even including it on this list), but at least I’m keeping it in the family! King’s son Joe Hill has written some amazing novels, and one of his best is on its way to becoming a television series on AMC. While I’m still bummed we haven’t gotten an adaptation of Heart-Shaped Box yet, NOS4A2 is a perfect literary property to turn into a series. There is a ton of mythology to mine from its pages. The title refers to the license plate of the villain’s 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith (an abbreviation of “nosferatu”). That villain happens to be Charlie Manx, a grotesque figure with long sharp teeth who kidnaps children and brings them to Christmasland and sucks the life out of them, turning them into vampires. It’s a truly remarkable piece of fiction that only a network like AMC will be able to do justice.
Which adaptation are you looking forward to the most? We all know that The Mist is being adapted as a television series for Spike TV, and there are supposedly film adaptations of Pet Sematary and Doctor Sleep in the works. Let us know your picks in the comments below!
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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