Question about King and his movies

**snagswolf** · October 9th, 2009

Now that King is one of the most successful writers around today, how much control does he have over the movies made from his books?

Does he decide if a movie should be made? Who will direct it? What can be changed from his text? Who he wants to star in it?

And as a separate question, has he ever written a character in a book with a specific actor in mind to play the role in an eventual movie?

**Moderator** · October 9th, 2009

If it's a first time time request, Steve holds the film rights options so, yes, he would decide if a movie should be made by either accepting or declining an offer for the rights. Beyond that, it varies from project to project as to how much control or in which specific areas he wants to have over the production. Once a film has been produced, he does not usually control the rights so whoever does own them can sell them to someone else and he'd be out of the loop.

The only character I can think of immediately that he's mentioned an actor that was in his head was Clint Eastwood as Roland. There may be others that I'm just not remembering at the moment.

**snagswolf** · October 9th, 2009

Thanks for the informative reply Ms. Mod.

Do you get the impression that he has his 'favorites' among his stories, and may let some go without any control, while others he wants to make sure they're done 'right'?

And are there any where he's refused to release the rights altogether?

**Moderator** · October 9th, 2009

Absolutely on both counts. He has had some real roll your eyes proposals--Gerald's Game being one of the ones that comes to mind. The other thing to add is that even though the film rights have been sold doesn't mean that a production will come to fruition. There have been several cases of this but The Talisman is the one that probably is the most disappointing not to have been produced yet. One that will never get approval from him for a film adaptation is Rage.

boogerb53 · October 9th, 2009

Originally Posted by Moderator

If it's a first time time request, Steve holds the film rights options so, yes, he would decide if a movie should be made by either accepting or declining an offer for the rights. Beyond that, it varies from project to project as to how much control or in which specific areas he wants to have over the production. Once a film has been produced, he does not usually control the rights so whoever does own them can sell them to someone else and he'd be out of the loop.

The only character I can think of immediately that he's mentioned an actor that was in his head was Clint Eastwood as Roland. There may be others that I'm just not remembering at the moment.

In the Stand, he mentioned in the afterward he had several people in his head, such as Bruce Springsteen for Larry Underwood.