Adapting Stephen King

Stephen King’s fiction has formed the basis of more motion picture adaptations than any other living author. His earliest short stories, collected in the Night Shift anthology, have been adapted into hit features including Creepshow, Children of the Corn, Cat’s Eye, Maximum Overdrive, Graveyard Shift, Sometimes They Come Back, and The Mangler. Through his “Dollar Baby” program, King licensed several Night Shift stories to aspiring filmmakers for just one dollar each, resulting in numerous student film adaptations.
This book critically examines and contextualizes adaptations of the Night Shift short stories, from big box office features to relatively unknown student films. It illuminates how each film is a uniquely and intricately collaborative endeavor, and charts the development of each adaptation from first option to final cut. Through old and new interviews with the creators, the work explores how filmmakers continue to reinvent, reimagine, remake and reboot King’s stories.

Joseph Maddrey has researched, written and produced more than 100 hours of documentary television, focusing on true crime and the paranormal. He lives in Midlothian, Virginia.

Joseph Maddrey
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 228
Bibliographic Info: 19 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2023
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9010-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4821-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vii
Series Preface 1
A Note on Style 5
Introduction 7
Origin Stories 7  •  Cinematic Brand Stephen King 12
Part One: From NIGHT SHIFT to CREEPSHOW 17
NIGHT SHIFT (1978 treatment) 17  •  The Milton Subotsky Story 21  •  CREEPSHOW (1979 screenplay) 26
Part Two: Early “Dollar Babies” 34
THE BOOGEYMAN (1982 short film) 34  •  An Interview with Jeffrey C. Schiro (2020) 38  •  THE WOMAN IN THE ROOM (1983 short film) 44  •  DISCIPLES OF THE CROW (1983 short film) 48  •  An Interview with John R. Woodward (2020) 50
Part Three: CHILDREN OF THE CORN 54
Development Hell (Oral History) 54  •  CHILDREN OF THE CORN (Undated Second Draft) 55  •  CHILDREN OF THE CORN (Revised: 6/80) 60  •  Development Hell (Oral History) 62  •  George Goldsmith’s CHILDREN OF THE CORN (Second Revision 8/5/83) 64  •  Reflections on the Film (Oral History) 69  •  An Interview with George Goldsmith (2020) 70  •  Legacy (Sequels, Sequels, Sequels) 78  •  Donald P. Borchers’ CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2009) 82  •  An Interview with Donald P. Borchers (2020) 86  •  Reset 95
Part Four: From CAT’S EYE to SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK 98
Development Hell (Oral History) 98  •  CAT’S EYE (May 14, 1984, screenplay) 99  •  THE MACHINES / BEWARE THE GREEN GOD 103  •  Development Hell (Oral History) 107  •  TRUCKS / OVERDRIVE / MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE 109  •  Reflections on the Film (Oral History) 115  •  Brian Taggert’s TRUCKS (1997) 116  •  SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK (First Draft, c. 1987) 119  •  SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK (Fourth Draft—August 31, 1990) 123  •  An Interview with Tom McLoughlin (2011) 128  •  Legacy (… AGAIN… FOR MORE…) 135
Part Five: From GRAVEYARD SHIFT to THE MANGLER 137
Development Hell (Oral History) 137  •  GRAVEYARD SHIFT (First Draft—March 30, 1986) 138  •  Development Hell (Oral History) 142  •  GRAVEYARD SHIFT (Second Draft—April 30, 1990) 144  •  Reflections on the Film (Oral History) 146  •  An Interview with John Esposito (2021) 148  •  THE LAWNMOWER MAN Lawsuit 161  •  Development Hell (Oral History) 163  •  THE MANGLER (Rewrite—June 9, 1993) 165  •  THE MANGLER (June 17, 1993, Final Draft) 169  •  Reflections on the Film (Oral History) 171  •  An Interview with Stephen David Brooks (2021) 172  •  Reborn? 182
Part Six: 21st-Century Adaptations 184
NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: “BATTLEGROUND” (2006) 184  •  An Interview with Richard Christian Matheson (2021) 188  •  CREEPSHOW: “GRAY MATTER” (2020) 195  •  An Interview with Philip de Blasi and Byron Willinger (2021) 199  •  CHAPELWAITE (2021) 206  •  Endless Night 211
Bibliography 213
Index 219