While sitting at the television, watching the latest Heroes with the wife, I was fast-forwarding through the commercials when I saw a specific commercial flash by that caught my eye. It was a commercial for a movie coming out: The Mist by Stephen King.
“What are you doing?” asked the wife.
“Watching this commercial,” I replied.
30 seconds later, after watching the commercial, I came to the conclusion that “The Mist” might turn out to be one of the few instances of successful paper-to-film translations.
“The Mist” has been my favorite Steven King story for a long time now. It, along with “The Longest Walk,” I should say. I can’t decide which of those two stories is most appealing. Stephen King’s ability to bring the reader into the stories of “lone survivors” is something that I’ve always succumbed to. If you’ve read “The Cell” or “The Stand” or “The Running Man” and enjoyed them, you know what I’m talking about.
“The Mist” never fails to stir my imagination whenever I re-read it, despite the fact that the plot can be summarized in 10 words.
Man and son grocery shop. World comes apart around them.
Essentially, that’s what happens. A storm knocks out power to a little town in Maine and the protagonist, David Drayton, sensibly takes his son Billy to the local supermarket to stock up on some groceries. Stephanie Drayton, David’s wife, stays behind at their lakeside home to clean up glass from a few windows that were shattered by the storm.
Then the mist rolls in, a mist so thick that a person can barely see a few feet in front of themselves. In that mist…are monsters. Large, nasty, insanely bizarre monsters.
David and his son are stuck in the grocery store when the mist rolls in. There are also some interesting characters from the town stuck in the supermarket as well. Good people and bad people.
If there is a Hell for fictional characters, Mrs. Carmody is certainly there. I’m sure you’ll be introduced to her in the film.
I’m not sure if the movie will end the same way that the book does. Producers usually push for happy endings, after all.
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of reading “The Mist,” it can easily be found in your local library in the Stephen King section. It’s the first story featured in his collection “Skeleton Crew.” Check it out before the movie comes out on the 21st of November.
After watching the commercial, my wife told me that she will not be going to see “The Mist” with me. She hates to be scared.
While this has been a paid post, the opinions within are my own.
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From wikipedia:
Director Frank Darabont originally expressed interest in directing a film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1980 novella The Mist for his directing debut, but he instead filmed The Shawshank Redemption, also based on another King novella.
In October 1994, after completing The Shawshank Redemption, Darabont reiterated his interest in filming The Mist. Darabont did not immediately follow through, instead directing The Green Mile, based on a serial novel by Stephen King.
Darabont eventually set up a first look deal for The Mist with the studio Paramount Pictures, having been entrusted feature film rights by Stephen King.
By December 2004, Darabont said that he had begun writing an adapted screenplay for The Mist. By October 2006, the project moved from Paramount to Dimension Films, with Darabont attached to direct and actor Thomas Jane in negotiations to join the cast.
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SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE MOVIE (from the imdb posting board)
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I heard they changed the end and it ends even worse than the story (well sort of depending on how you look at it).
SPOILERS
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I heard the father gets away with his son and three adults. He only has four bullets left so he shoots his son and the other adults to save them from the monsters. Just after he shoots them an army vehicle rolls up. Soldiers use flamethrowers to torch all the surrounding monsters. If he hadn’t shot the others they would’ve been saved.
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I like turtles
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Thanks for posting this about The Mist. I immediately went and borrowed my mom’s copy of The Skeleton Crew and read The Mist. It was great. I like Stephen King alright. Delores Claiborne was good and so was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. But other than that, I have not really read much Stephen King. Again, thanks for the suggestion! Can’t wait for the movie to come out!
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