Why are filmmakers so fond
of Stephen King’s work?
Stephen King writes very exotic,
often terrifying stories to which
we can all relate. His heroes are
ordinary people confronted
with the extraordinary. He is like
American folklore, or fairy tales,
beneath the possessed cars
and psycho clowns lie universal
truths about human nature.
What surprised you most during
your research for the book?
How involved King gets. But
he’s not a control freak. Once
happy with script and casting, he
keeps his distance, usually only
popping by for a corny cameo.
Shining? Doctor Sleep will tell you
– but you’re not going to like it.
Now a middle-aged man, wrestling
with his psychic powers and the
emotional fallout from being
chased through a haunted hotel by
his axe-wielding dad, Torrance
(Ewan McGregor) finds kinship
with the similarly gifted Abra Stone
(Kyliegh Curran). But the pair are
soon pursued by a merciless cult
who reap psychic children – and
Dan realises he can never escape
the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel.
See It Chapter Two from 6 September
and Doctor Sleep from 31 October
Sleepless night potential:
King wrote It 33 years ago and
yet It Chapter Two is one of the
film events of ‘this’ year. What
is it about this particular story?
It is basically King’s greatest
hits album. The one with
everything: children in peril,
fear as a polluting force, a
shape-shifting monster, and a
dreamlike sense of nostalgia for
smalltown America. Without It
you don’t have Stranger Things.
And there is something primal
about a scary clown. King was
actually inspired by the time
he got on a flight with a seat
empty beside him. At the last
moment, a clown – red nose, big
shoes, the whole deal – sits down
next to him. He was on his way
to open a new McDonald’s. King
was certain his time had come.
Just how excited should we be
for Doctor Sleep?
Extremely. Mike Flanagan, the
director, is a master of elegant,
unhurried, seriously creepy
storytelling. He is a King disciple,
with a gripping version of
Gerald’s Game to his name. And
the recent trailer revealed that
Doctor Sleep is daringly a direct
sequel to Kubrick’s The Shining
with enticing callbacks to the
Overlook, the Grady twins, Room
237... King has apparently seen
it and approves wholeheartedly.
Finally, we have to ask, what’s
your favourite King adaptation?
In the book, I made a league
table based not only on how
good the film or TV series
might be, but how true to King.
So the winner wasn‘t Carrie or
The Shining – foremost De Palma
and Kubrick-flavoured classics
– but a film, I think, that captures
the heart of King – Stand by
Me. It is a monster movie
where the monster is time.
Stephen King at the Movies is a complete history of
the films and TV shows adapted from the work of
Stephen King. It’s an absolute must for movie fans
and we’ve got a copy signed by author Ian Nathan
to give away. To enter, visit: bit.ly/odeoncompking
odeon.co.uk 27
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