The biggest travesty of a movie ever made!

[Pucker]

I'm not even sure if Stephen reads these messages although I'd be interested to hear what he thought of the movie.

Well . . . if we can believe Harlan Ellison (and I think we can) Mr. King is purported to have said -- some twenty years ago and more, mind you -- of film in general and this movie in particular, that the best you can hope for is that “they buy the rights, pay you half a million dollars and, for some reason, never make the movie – but you get to keep the half million dollars without the embarrassment of some awful film coming out.”

It's probably worth noting that when this opinion was offered there hadn't been anything reasonably watchable or particularly adherent to the source material -- with the possible (and meager) exception of Christine. Or course, all of that has changed in the intervening years, with passable adaptations of The Body, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile; but it's an interesting window into how perspectives change. The guy who once said that now has more money than God and Mark Zuckerberg, and never misses a chance to tell us that it was never about the money and he never "took of his hat to fashion and held it out for pennies."

[Moderator]

Took you a while but I see you're back to your old self, eh, Pucker?

[Pucker]

Time's change.

People don't.

[Alli3388]

Do you know if some has plans for the long walk??? The Running Man and The Long Walk are two of my all time favorites. Of course I was devastated to see what some had the nerve to call the running man based on the novella by Stephen King. What a stupid joke (even if it was desecrating the story, it would still suck). I've often wondered if the long walk would be made into a movie though... partly I wish for this, and I am partly scared of it being ruined as well.

[Moderator]

Frank Darabont currently holds the film rights so chances are improved that it will be a good adaptation.

[fljoe0]

Ms Mod - how does buying film rights work? Does someone buy the rights and have a time limit to get a film made? After they make a film does Steve get the rights back?

[Moderator]

Ms Mod - how does buying film rights work? Does someone buy the rights and have a time limit to get a film made? After they make a film does Steve get the rights back?

If it's someone who's worked with Steve before or who is in the business, they would usually first contact Steve and/or his film agent with their proposal. If not, then they would have to demonstrate their ability to produce a film by sending samples of their work and proving they have the financial resources to finance an adaptation. From there, a fee is negotiated for the film rights and a contract is drawn up by the attorneys. Unless Steve buys back the rights after a film has been produced or there was a specific clause in the contract that stipulates the rights would revert to him because the film was not produced, he does not automatically get them back.

[Pucker]

Do you know if some has plans for the long walk??? The Running Man and The Long Walk are two of my all time favorites. Of course I was devastated to see what some had the nerve to call the running man based on the novella by Stephen King. What a stupid joke (even if it was desecrating the story, it would still suck). I've often wondered if the long walk would be made into a movie though... partly I wish for this, and I am partly scared of it being ruined as well.

Good point.

They should have called it The Prize of Peril and waited to see how many people got the joke.

[dsurrett]

I've never read the book, but after now seeing the movie isn't close to the book, I might need to give it a go.

[blunthead]

Well . . . if we can believe Harlan Ellison (and I think we can) Mr. King is purported to have said -- some twenty years ago and more, mind you -- of film in general and this movie in particular, that the best you can hope for is that “they buy the rights, pay you half a million dollars and, for some reason, never make the movie – but you get to keep the half million dollars without the embarrassment of some awful film coming out.”

It's probably worth noting that when this opinion was offered there hadn't been anything reasonably watchable or particularly adherent to the source material -- with the possible (and meager) exception of Christine. Or course, all of that has changed in the intervening years, with passable adaptations of The Body, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile; but it's an interesting window into how perspectives change. The guy who once said that now has more money than God and Mark Zuckerberg, and never misses a chance to tell us that it was never about the money and he never "took of his hat to fashion and held it out for pennies."

Paragraph One...
Amateurish, one run-on, for lack of a better word, sentence composed of words seeming to be seeking their rightful home, while managing to include innuendo, propaganda, a misquote, and lameness:

...if we can believe Harlan Ellison (and I think we can) (propaganda and lame). Well... can we or no? And if so, why?

...Mr. King... Ironically, in your case it's not rude to refer to him as "Steve".

...purported (pər-pôrˈtĭd, -pōrˈ-) adjective, assumed to be such. (innuendo). Prove it. We aren't convinced.

"Star Wars is adolescent nonsense; Close Encounters is obscurantist drivel; Star Trek can turn your brains to puree of bat guano..." --Harlan Ellison

"Writing is the hardest work in the world. I have been a bricklayer and a truck driver, and I tell you – as if you haven't been told a million times already – that writing is harder. Lonelier. And nobler and more enriching. " --Harlan Ellison

Pucker, Stephen King is a writer. You need to keep trying.

ps: The guy...now has more money than God and Mark Zuckerberg... Please repeat after me, "Doesn't he have enough money already?!".