In 2017, Stephen King fans were spoiled for choice when it came to adaptations of the horror legend’s work. Gerald’s Game, 1922 and the obscenely bankable It all scored relatively high marks on the bulk of scorecards and The Dark Tower was considered the only real fumble in a busy year of King-related cinema. There’s bit a lot of rumblings about future King adaptations on the horizon and on Thursday arrived some intriguing news about a fellow horror titan working in the realm of King.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Conjuring director James Wan and It producer Roy Lee are teaming to turn King’s 1987 sci-fi offering The Tommyknockers into a feature. Presumably in a style that’s a bit more gussied up and frightening than the 1993 ABC miniseries spawned from the novel.
“It is an allegorical tale of addiction (Stephen was struggling with his own at the time), the threat of nuclear power, the danger of mass hysteria and the absurdity of technical evolution run amuck,” wrote producer Larry Sanitsky in a mission statement sent to potential buyers. “All are as relevant today as the day the novel was written. It is also a tale about the eternal power of love and the grace of redemption.”
The Tommyknockers centers on the residents of a Maine town and how a mysterious metal object unleashes extraordinary powers and (naturally) extremely dangerous consequences. It’s also a work King famously pegged as “an awful book” in a 2014 Rolling Stone interview where he noted that it was the last novel he wrote before he “cleaned up [his] act.”
This might not be the easiest of King works to adapt, but James Wan isn’t hurting for a sparkling horror résumé. His work with the Conjuring films, Insidious franchise and status as the original Saw helmer inspires some exciting visions of what could be. One wonders if he’ll dust off the miniseries on VHS on general principle.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
