In honor of the prolific author's new book, I returned to the shitty remakes of his self-described"magnum opus" in an attempt to figure out what went wrong.Horror fans might deny it, but their patron saint, Stephen King, is a fantasy writer. Non-genre fans will scoff at all of this—haunted houses versus dragons?Cujoa shining example of King’s indisputable fantasy-writing talents.
As it progresses, the books pull in threads of King’s other works, weaving in characters, places, and themes from across his oeuvre. King himself even pops into the narrative. I won’t mince words: It’s insane. But the insanity is what makes it such a delight. It’s a series so strange and bold that, in the hands of any other writer, would feel utterly self-aggrandizing; King himself calls it his “
Hollywood has been trying to adapt this unwieldy masterwork for at least a decade. The first and most notorious attempt was a 2017 film starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey It is, so far, the only adaptation that has actually seen the light of day and I ventured into the depths of terrible movies repeatedly made in its final season. Every scene is a set piece; every battle is bloodier than the last; no one seems to care about anything for more than the span of a scene.
All of the best King adaptations understand that we want stunning reversals and reveals. And look, they serve up genre, sure. ButI’m aware King himself doesn’t love all of these adaptations, but audiences do, because these films get what genre actually is: a setting, a tool, sometimes even just a vibe. That’s a truth that the unseen pilot of, a TV series that was originally meant to be a companion to the film. It was set to be helmed by Glen Mazzara, writer and eventual showrunner of.
So… here I am, praying that maybe the third time really is the charm. Maybe fans have finally found their gunslinger. I’d call that a real fantasy—but hope can be a very dangerous thing.April 29, 2024 | 2:55pm