NEWS -

Interview with Garris

Posted: October 6, 2004, 23:44

An article about Desperation as well as an interview with Mick Garris is now online. In the interview he talks about Riding the Bullet and Desperation.

The article state that shooting will begin in November.

Thanks to Bev Vincent and David Sjödin.

New column, poster and more

Posted: October 6, 2004, 00:00

King has a new column, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, in the next issue of Entertainment Weekly. This time it has to do with Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and others who are using their music to raise political awareness about the upcoming election.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

To the right is the poster for All That You Love Will Be Carried Away.

USA Today will have an article about the Red Sox featuring Stephen King in tomorrow's issue. It supposed to be on the front cover.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Another interview about Riding the Bullet and Desperation
with Mick Garris is now online.

Thanks to Bloody Disgusting.

Some photos from day one of filming Gotham Café (including Mick Garris' cameo) can now be seen online.

King comments on (not) retiring

Posted: October 2, 2004, 00:00

King comments on (not) retiring in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly:

From Our Contributors

EW contributor Stephen King publishes new novel -- The horror author discusses completing the final book in his "Dark Tower" series
by Gilbert Cruz

Thirty-four years ago, Stephen King sat down and typed the following line: "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." As the ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY columnist recalls, "That's probably the best single line that I ever wrote and maybe it deserved a book. I'm not sure it deserved seven of them." Nonetheless, here we are, greeting the publication of Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, "a whopper" that King also insists is the end of gunslinger Roland Deschain's saga. At least for now. After all, this is a man who told this magazine two years ago that he would retire after finishing Dark Tower. Now he admits there's a brand-new novel sitting on his shelf: "I'm looking at it right now and that's where it's going to stay for the time being." So, is he retired or not? "I was deeply sad to finish with these books, and I had a period of real creative depression, to the point where I told people I was going to quit...[but] I can't be held responsible for anything I said in the course of the last two years." That, Constant Readers, is a no.

Thanks to Paul Poroshin.

Faithful in color

Posted: October 1, 2004, 00:00

Here is a color version of the upcoming Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season. It will be released in December and you can pre-order it at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Ehren Kruger talks The Talisman

Posted: September 29, 2004, 23:25

Ehren Kruger talks about The Talisman in an interview with Dread Central.

So what can you tell us about your work on The Talisman script?

EK: I wrote a few drafts of The Talisman (an adaptation of the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel) last year. A couple writers worked on the project before me, and a couple writers have worked on it since. However, the producers and studio were pleased enough with my version to expose it to filmmakers. Two directors signed on and later signed off, after being unable to agree with the studio and producers on what the precise tone and style of the movie should be. This is usually called "creative differences," which is not a euphemism but a very real and worthwhile reason to part ways on a project.

The reason the project has spent such a long time in development is that it is no easy task to condense an 800-page odyssey of a horror-fantasy novel into a single two-hour movie. To adapt the book faithfully would require an 8 or 10 hour miniseries. And yet there is a wonderful, simple story at the novel’s core that a feature film could certainly do justice to. Hopefully the right director will come along and make the project a reality. As for now, I’ve moved onto other things and am not actively involved with the script.

JB: Since you're not actively involved as of now, can you give us an idea of what was different in your version, or what you had focused on the most in your draft?

EK: In my drafts, a lot was changed from the book. The focus was on the book’s strength (in my opinion) – Jack’s cross-country quest to save his mother’s life and his unlikely alliance and friendship with Wolf. The time frame was condensed to a few days to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and so a number of Jack’s stops along the way and many secondary characters were excised entirely. The novel is a horror/fantasy hybrid and my drafts emphasized the latter. My mandate was to write a two-hour PG-13 movie, so most of my story choices were made with that in mind. If my mandate had been to write an R-rated cable miniseries, my drafts would have been notably different.

JB: I had heard a lot of the quest stuff was removed from your draft, like you said some of the stops made and so forth. What about The Territories? Was there any action taking place there or was it more focused on our side of things?

EK: Sounds like you are pretty familiar with the book. In my drafts, the Territories were visited on several occasions, but not as often as in the novel. It covers much more ground than we possibly could. Some of this was for budgetary reasons, and some was due to the fact that the novel’s "parallel world," of course, affects the real one. Since the movie’s focus was to be on Jack and Wolf, many of the most valuable parts of the book for our purposes involved those where Wolf was a stranger in Jack’s world. And of course, I can only speak to the drafts I was involved in; subsequent writers may have changed my choices of what to keep or discard quite thoroughly.

JB: I really hope that if and when it does get off the ground they're able to treat it with the respect it deserves. From the sounds of it you had the right idea for condensing it to its barest essentials, which would be necessary to make such a long book into a two-hour film...

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Revival of Pet Sematary

Posted: September 29, 2004, 00:00

Variety reports that Paramount has hired horror specialist Dave Kajganich to write its revival of Pet Sematary, produced by Alphaville.

There will be a brand new lengthy interview with King in the November 2004 issue of Fangoria, which is issue #238, hitting newsstands October 21.

Thanks to Suspiria13.

Now you can see all the covers of Entertainment Weekly that King has had his column, The Pop of King, in. Thanks to Paul Poroshin.

Now all of you that couldn't get a copy of the Centipede Press edition of Salem's Lot has a new chance. Here is the info:

Stephen King has given Centipede Press permission to do another 600 UNSIGNED copies of 'SALEM'S LOT, bound in cloth.

The size of the book is still 9 x 13, and includes all the text from the limited edition, including the deleted scenes. There will not be any interior photographs.

This edition will ship in early December. The price is $95 + $15 shipping. We are accepting ONLY checks and money orders at this time, no credit cards or PayPal payments. If you live overseas, please contact us before ordering so that we can determine a shipping and payment method. Colorado residents will need to add $3.99 for state sales tax.

Payment should be mailed to:
Jerad Walters
Centipede Press
2760 Harlan #4
Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80214

Thanks to Brian Freeman and Marco Lammers.

Here's a couple articles reviewing the Dollar Baby Fest:
Maine Campus
Bangor Daily News
Bangor Daily News

Thanks to James Renner, Stephen King Short Movies and Audrey Sparkes.

Darabont start on The Mist next week

Posted: September 24, 2004, 13:50

Frank Darabont still plan to do The Mist. He'll start work on The Mist script "next week," but wasn't sure when it would get made.

Frank Darabont confirmed to SCI FI Wire that he plans to write and direct a film version of Stephen King's horror tale The Mist, which appeared as a short novel in King's Skeleton Crew collection. Darabont previously scored successes with The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, both of which were based on King stories. "I love the fact that The Mist is a pressure cooker that's character-driven and that's a down-and-dirty monster movie," Darabont said in an interview while promoting the upcoming 10th anniversary special-edition DVD of The Shawshank Redemption. "I just love it."

Darabont added, "It's that wonderful Steve King taste in the mouth. I'm excited about getting back to my horror roots. I'm also excited about getting in there and shooting something down-and-dirty. I envision the monster barely glimpsed, just like in the story. These are things that you don't quite ever fully see. So I'm going to take a cue from everybody's godfather, Mr. Spielberg, and show the shark as little as possible," he added, referring to Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

The writer/director added that he'll start work on the Mist script "next week," but wasn't sure when it would get made, as he's already attached to direct a Fahrenheit 451 remake and may also take on Mine, a thriller to be based on a Robert McCammon novel in which both the hero and the villain are female. "That one may go first," Darabont said. "It's all in the hands of the film gods."

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book info

Posted: September 24, 2004, 00:00

TheDarkTower.net now has the illustrations from The Dark Tower VII on their site.

Now it's time to order your copy of The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book. Cemetery Dance told me that they only have a few copies left of the Lettered Edition so order one ASAP if you want one. Oh, and if you order the book please mention that you heard about it from Lilja's Library in the comments section of the checkout form. That will get me on extra good terms with the folks over at CD :-)

Here are more info about this book:

The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book will feature over 1,000 questions to test your knowledge of the King of Horror (covering topics right up through the last Dark Tower book!), along with dozens of special illustration-based questions from Cemetery Dance favorite artist Glenn Chadbourne! Edited by Brian Freeman (founder of StephenKingNews.com) and Bev Vincent (author of The Road To The Dark Tower and the "News from the Dead Zone" column in Cemetery Dance magazine), The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book will also feature a special afterword by Michelle L. Revelle (Founder/Co-President of SKEMERs, the largest Stephen King fan group on the web).

The Deluxe Traycased Lettered Edition is limited to just 52 signed and lettered leather-bound copies, and each copy will feature a piece of Glenn Chadbourne ORIGINAL artwork from the book inlaid into the cover of the traycase, making each copy of the Lettered Edition unique. By original artwork, we mean we're taking THE ACTUAL pieces of artwork off his easel and incorporating it into the traycase -- that means none of these traycases will have exactly the same look!

The Dark Tower VII review

Posted: September 22, 2004, 00:00

My review of The Dark Tower VII is now online and it's spoiler free.

A new installment of Needful King's Online is now online. It's the longest installment so far and it's titled; The Road to the Dark Tower Ends; A Look Back at Dr. Hook's Medicine Show; A Ride on a Stationary Bike; An Interesting NBA Event; plus Some Interesting Other Things.

King turns 57

Posted: September 21, 2004, 00:00

First I would like to congratulate King who turns 57 today, congratulations!

Here are two articles from the signing at Just Books. One from Greenwich Time and one from Connpost.com.

Thanks to Bev Vincent and Jonathan Reitan.

As you know The Dark Tower VII is released today. Because of this Simon & Schuster have put some fun stuff on their site including a screensaver.'

Thanks to Bev Vincent and Ariel Bosi.

An interview with Mick Garris about Riding the Bullet is now online.

The 1st Annual Dollar Baby Film Fest takes place on Saturday Sept. 25th, 2004 at Corbett Business Building Theater, University of Maine, Orono. 7PM. $5 at the door! It will contain 2 hrs. of rarely-seen Stephen King short films.

Here is the REVISED list:
- The Woman in the Room (Frank Darabont)
- The Lawnmower Man (based on the short story, not the movie!!)
- Strawberry Spring
- The Man in the Black Suit
- Paranoid
- The Last Rung on the Ladder
- Luckey Quarter
- The Dark Tower: Roland meets Brown
- All That You Love Will Be Carried Away
- Q&A with directors to follow and other surprises!!!

Lisey's Story

Posted: September 20, 2004, 23:18

As you know there has been reports that King has written a new book. Well, it now seams that the short story I have reported about earlier, Lisey and the Madman is an excerpt from that book. Here is what it says in the author notes in the book:

[King] has promised to retire but "Lisey and the Madman" is from what may eventually be a new novel called Lisey's Story. In his own defense, King points out that all novelists lie--sometimes to others, almost constantly to themselves.

The story is about 30 pages long and about a writer who gets shot during a public appearance, told from the point of view of his wife.

Here's what King says about the book (that I'm guessing is the one called Lisey's Story) in his Guardian interview:

He has another book written, though he says it's "a mess", and has yet to decide whether anybody else should read it. It is about a writer's widow, and came about when he returned home from his hospitalisation for pneumonia to find his wife redecorating his office. "My wife says to me: 'Don't go in your office'. Like Bluebeard or something. I said 'Why not?' She says: It's just a mess in there and it will really upset you. One night I couldn't sleep and I went out there and she was right - it upset me. The furniture was all gone. The books were off the shelves. Everything was in boxes. It was just like a room that has been cleared out following an old person's death. It got me thinking about my own death and what would happen afterwards."

The entire interview can be found at guardian.co.uk.

Thanks to Bev Vincent and Rocky Wood.

King's appearance on the Today show

Posted: September 20, 2004, 00:00

Rocky Wood, David Rawsthorne and Norma Blackburn has put a signed first edition of their book The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King up on eBay and they are donating all the money they get for it to Lilja's Library. Do I need to tell you all how honored I am? Check it out here.

Now you can see a clip from King's appearance on the Today show here (Click on the arrows to get video #2).

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

I got an email from Mick Garris in which he told me that the theatrical release for Riding the Bullet has been pushed back one week to October 15th, in LA/Orange County and nine other cities. He also sent me the correct poster for the movie. You can see it to the right.

FilmForce has an exclusive trailer for the movie, check it out at their site.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Grant's cover and signing info

Posted: September 16, 2004, 00:00

Here the cover for Grant's artist edition of The Dark Tower VII.

Thanks to TheDarkTower.net

The owner of Just Books (the store King will be doing a book signing on 9/20) emailed Tyler over at TheDarkTower.net and asked him to post the following info for everyone who's planning on attending.

---
Hi there

We have confirmed that Michael Whelan will join Stephen King on September 20 to sign Dark Tower VII. He will be arriving at 10:30 AM on the 20th and staying until 2 PM. Book signing limits will be set that day, depending on the availability of stock. Prints will also be available.

For anyone who is curious (some forums seem curious), the bookstore is literally behind the train station. There is limited parking in town and no paid lots (or meters for that matter). There is a large lot behind the store but all if it is 2 hour parking.

We will be at the store through Sunday night and expect police to either be heavily patroling or crowd controlling through the night. Standing on-line in the wee hours of the morning is probably a given, at this point, but pitching a tent is not something that the police would be in favor of.

We will give tickets out at 6 AM so that people can roam about with the expectation that people return to the line by 11:40 AM!
---

Thanks to TheDarkTower.net

The official site for Riding the Bullet has been updated with this interesting poster among other things.

Dead Zone season 4 is coming and Dollar Baby Film Festival play list

Posted: September 13, 2004, 00:00

A fourth season of The Dead Zone has now been announced. 22 new episodes has been ordered. The series is set to resume production this November but no date has been mentioned for when the season starts to air.

Here is the play list for the 1st Annual Dollar Baby Film Festival held on September 25 in Maine:
* The Woman in the Room
* The Lawnmower Man
* Strawberry Spring
* The Road Virus Heads North
* Paranoid
* Last Rung on the Ladder
* Lucky Quarter
* All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (World Premiere)
* Q&A with directors.

Lisey and the Madman scan

Posted: September 12, 2004, 23:15

Here is a scan of McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories with King's Lisey and the Madman in it.

Miscellaneous news

Posted: September 12, 2004, 00:00

Cemetery Dance's book Stephen King - Unpublished and Uncollected is set for a December release.

According to my friend Justin who talked to Ed McBain about the anthology that will contain King's novella The Things They Left Behind the book will have the title Crimes and it will be released (by Tor) in the spring of 2005.

Thanks to Justin.

King has a new column out in Entertainment Weekly's September 10 issue, the title is Paint it Black.

Thanks to Rocky Wood.

Lisey and the Madman

Posted: September 9, 2004, 23:13

King's official site reports that a new work of fiction by Stephen titled Lisey and the Madman will be included in McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, an anthology edited by Michael Chabon and published by Vintage. The anticipated publication date is November 2004.

Stephen King - Unpublished and Uncollected

Posted: September 3, 2004, 00:00

Cemetery Dance will release the book, Stephen King - Unpublished and Uncollected by Rocky Wood with David Rawsthorne and Norma Blackburn. The book will include coverage of 51 unpublished and 46 uncollected works of fiction but that isn't all. The book will also include TWO pieces by King himself.

The first work is the first and only publication of an entire Chapter from King's unpublished 1970 novel Sword in the Darkness. This Chapter features a stand-alone based horror story set in pre-War Gates Mills, Maine. Rocky Wood describe the Chapter as "one of the early King classics". The second work is the first book and mass market publication of King's very obscure poem Dino. This was originally published in Syracuse University (New York) literary magazine, 'The Salt Hill Journal' in 1994 and was only recently rediscovered.

All this is, as I mentioned, of course in addition to the massive research that has gone into Chapters covering 51 unpublished and 46 uncollected works of fiction. These 97 Works include novels, shorter works of fiction, 24 screenplays and 9 poems.

They also release information about a Work previously unknown by the King community, Molly. Molly was King's original screenplay submitted for The X-Files but is a completely different story from that later produced for the series as Chinga.

The price is $75 for the Limited Edition (2,000 signed and numbered copies) and for the $500 Lettered Edition (52 signed and lettered copies). You can read more here.

- - -

With only 18 days left until the release of The Dark Tower 7 Ain't it cool News, Kirkus Reviews and Publisher's Weekly has reviews of it online. People tells me that there are spoilers though so read it at your own risk.

Desperation delayed

Posted: August 25, 2004, 00:00

Mick Garris tells me that Desperation has been a bit delayed and will probalby begin filming at the end of October instead of September at reported earlier.

Tyler Hall, author of the book Towerpent, and Lilja's Library can now offer everyone that want to buy the book a 10% discount. All you have to do is pay $17.99 instead of $19.99. At the moment this offer is only open to residents in the US. Later on it will also aply to international orders.

King will be interviewed in Fangoria #238

Posted: August 24, 2004, 00:00

King likes Riding the Bullet so much that he is letting Garris use his name in the title. It'll now be known as Stephen King's Riding the Bullet.

King will be interviewed in Fangoria #238, due October 21.

Bev Vincent told me today that his book The Road to the Dark Tower has a new publication date. The new date is September 28.

Andy Cumbria is making a Dollar Baby based on King's New Yorker story Harvey's Dream. Andy told me that the film will be shot October 1, 2 and 3 of this year. Ray Wise and Grace Zabriskie are playing Harvey and Janet Stevens, respectively. The movie will be around 10 minutes long.

Thanks to James Flower.

The Pop of King: The Four-Star Follies

Posted: August 21, 2004, 00:00

Here is the poster for the upcoming Dollar Baby festival. Looks really nice if you ask me...

A new column by King is out in Entertainment Weekly. This one is called The Pop of King: The Four-Star Follies.

Thanks to Paul Poroshin.

Lilja's Library on King's official site

Posted: August 17, 2004, 00:00

Today I'm extremely happy to let you know that a link to Lilja's Library has been put in the link section of King's official site (see image above). Not bad is it?

OK, with that out of my system, on to King news...

Now you can hear a clip from the upcoming CD Building Bridges. You can pre order it here.

The paperback edition of Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season is set to be released in May 2005. You can pre order it here or if you want the hardback (December 2004) you can pre order that one here.

More images from I know what you Need has been released.

King will be lecturing at the YMCA

Posted: August 14, 2004, 00:00

King will be lecturing at the YMCA on 92nd Street at Lexington in New York on Sun, Sep 19, 2004, 7:30pm. Tickets are only $25. More info is on their site.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Illustrations from The Dark Tower 6

Posted: August 12, 2004, 00:00

You can now buy some of the illustrations from The Dark Tower 6 from Darrel Anderson's site. You can also get a signed (by Michael Whelan) copy of The Dark Tower 7.

Kingdom Hospital is now out on DVD in the UK, pre order here.

Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season by King and O'Nan will not be released in the UK.

King has finished the first draft of a new book

Posted: August 9, 2004, 00:00

It seems that King has finished the first draft of a new book. Betts Bookstore reported about that and more in their last newsletter that is posted on Thedarktower.net. Here is a short quote from it:

First, Steve was able to ride his Harley this week for the first time since his accident six years ago. While he still feels the effects of the accident, this should be a great step forward mentally for him.

He has written another novel that sounds pretty interesting, but at this time it is only in the first draft and he has no publishing plans for it right now. I am willing to bet that we might see it in a year or two. It is based on something that happened to him late last fall at the house here in Bangor! No title that we can divulge.

There will be a nice interview published in "The Guardian" out of London September 15th. (I think the date is correct) WWW.Guardian.co.uk Also, USA Today is doing one in conjunction with the ending of The Dark Tower series.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

It also seems that there will be some new short stories in the near future. Here is a quote from King's message board moderator:

He has written a couple of short stories recently but I don't have the details about where they have been placed or when they will be published. I will try to do so in the next week and get that information posted in the News section.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Faithful and Tower covers

Posted: August 8, 2004, 00:00

Here is the cover for the upcoming book Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season. There is also some info about the book available.

The Dark Tower V will be released in trade paperback in January 2005 and The Dark Tower VI will be released in April 2005. Here are the new covers.

Desperation shooting in Arizona

Posted: August 3, 2004, 23:43

Mick Garris told me that Desperation should start shooting in Arizona in mid-to-late September. No casting yet though.

DVD's, Tower/HBO rumor and more

Posted: August 2, 2004, 00:00

The UK DVD version of Kingdom Hospital is now out. You can pre-order it here.

There has also been some info released about the US DVD of Kingdom Hospital.

This is from the Stephenking.com message board:

Question: I heard on the radio in their entertainment that Mr.King and HBO are in talks to move K.H to HBO, any truth to that?

Response from Moderator: Not that I'm aware of. There is another project being discussed, though, and as soon as I get the green light, I'll post information about that.

I have no idea what the project might be but there has been some rumors that HBO is interested in The Dark Tower...

Thanks to Bob I.

According to the moderator at King's message board The July 30th edition of EW has an article rather than the column in the back. The title is Now Hear This.

Thanks to Bev Vincent and Paul.

What is probably the first review for Riding the Bullet has now appeared online and the pin you see to the right is actually from the movie. They are used in the film as props. Riders are given the buttons coming off the coaster.

Granada Ventures (a division of ITV plc) have announced a 3 disk 10th Anniversary edition of The Shawshank Redemption for release 20th September. It seems the UK is getting a 3-disc special edition while the US will only get a 2-disc special edition. Extras are:

Disc 1
Feature
Commentary by Frank Darabont
Audio Description track
English HOH Subtitles
Theatrical trailer
Biographies
Memorable Quotes

Disc 2
Hope Springs Eternal - A Look Back at Shawshank Redemption
Shawshank The Redeeming Feature
The Charlie Rose Show with Frank Darabont, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman (2004 US broadcast)
The Sharktank Redemption
Shawshank Stills Gallery: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Supporting Cast, Tim and Morgan
Behind the Scenes
Shawshank Storyboards

Disc 3
Tim Robbins complete interview (Andy Dufresne, Inmate 37927)
Morgan Freeman interview (Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding)
Bob Gunton interview (Warden Samuel Norton)
William Sadler interview (Heyward, Inmate 32365)
Clancy Brown interview (Capt. Byron Hadley)

Thanks to Terry Warrick.

Bullet image and Tower 7 excerpt

Posted: August 1, 2004, 00:00

Here are the first pictures from Riding the Bullet (more is found if you follow the link). A report on the panel discussion about the movie is also available online now.

The excerpt from The Dark Tower 7 is now online on King's site. And speaking of The Dark Tower 7 I have decided that I won't post any more info and/or pictures directly on the front page on Lilja's Library, they will all be behind a link. So now you know you can come here without risking to get the book spoiled.

The Road Virus Heads North image

Posted: July 30, 2004, 00:00

The moderator of the message board on King's official site confirms that they will put an excerpt from The Dark Tower 7 online within the next week.

Thanks to jcausey and Brian Hilton.

Hodder & Stoughton has sent out their ARC's for The Dark Tower 7 and this time they have only done 100 copies of it. So, if you see one, hold on to it!

To the right is an image from the Dollar Baby The Road Virus Heads North called Richard's End.

The Dark Tower illustration and The Gunslinger CD

Posted: July 27, 2004, 00:00

Today I got confirmation from no other then Michael Whelan that the image on the envelope that contains The Dark Tower 7 flyer is from the book. Whelan didn't just confirm that the illustration was from the book, he actually sent me the entire illustration to put on my site. The one on the envelope is just part of it.

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Here is a report about Riding the Bullet from the Comic-Con in San Diego.

Turtle Bay Entertainment announced today that Joel Sadilek will be the new director of Gotham Cafe. Production on the film will begin in September in Los Angeles.

There are now some photos from I know what you Need online. You can also read more about it on the official site. There is also a teaser trailer online now.

There are also a CD being done with music based on King's The Gunslinger. You can read more about it on the official site. You can also listen to some tunes there.

The Dark Tower VII flyer

Posted: July 26, 2004, 00:00

Here is the flyer from Donald M. Grant announcing The Dark Tower VII. The image to the left is from the envelope that contained the flyer.

Since it was only on the envelope it's not confirmed that it's from the book but it's likely that it is. I'll let you know once I have it confirmed or not.

King have recorded an interview

Posted: July 25, 2004, 00:00

King have recorded an one hour long interview that will air on August 2 on all five channels of Maine PBS (seems you'll only be able to see it if you live in Maine though). Here is the info about it:

Author Stephen King can be seen giving a rare television interview in his home state on the Maine PBS program "A Good Read" on Aug. 2.

The hourlong interview, conducted by host Sandy Phippen, will air at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. It will be re-broadcast several times: 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Aug. 6; 10 p.m. Aug. 9; 8:30 p.m. Aug. 13; 7:30 p.m. Aug. 14; and 10 a.m. Aug. 15.

The interview has already been conducted and filmed. To see a video clip from the interview, go online at www.mainepbs.org.

King, who lives in Bangor, talked in the interview about his decision to leave fantasy and horror behind for other kinds of writing. He said that he's working on a musical project with John Mellencamp, in which he will write the script and Mellencamp the music.

"I've done all the major monsters that I ever really wanted to deal with," King told Phippen. "I've said a lot of what I have to say (and) I see myself going back repeating theme formats and places I've been before."

King also reveals character developments in his ongoing "Dark Tower" series and speaks of struggles he's had writing a book on writing.

The King interview will be aired on all five channels of Maine PBS: WMEA (Channel 26) in Biddeford; WCBB (Channel 10) in Augusta/Portland; WMEB (Channel 12) in Orono; WMED (Channel 13) in Calais; and WMEM (Channel 10) in Presque Isle.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Here is the cover for the galley of The Dark Tower 7.

More DVD info

Posted: July 24, 2004, 00:00

More DVD info was just sent to me.

Children of the Corn will feature an audio commentary track (with director Fritz Kiersch, producer Terrence Kirby and actors John Franklin and Courtney Gains), the all-new "Harvesting Horror" documentary, storyboard and title sequence art galleries, a poster and still gallery, the theatrical trailer and the original screenplay via DVD-ROM.

Creepshow 2 will also include an audio commentary (with director Michael Gornick, moderated by DVD producer Perry Martin), the all-new "Nightmares in Foam Rubber" documentary, storyboard and still galleries, theatrical trailers and the original screenplay via DVD-ROM.

Both discs feature anamorphic widescreen transfers (down-converted from new high definition masters) along with new Dolby Digital 5.1 remixes. Due on September 28th, SRP is $19.98 a piece.

Thanks again to DVD Guru Terry Warrick.

This is from a recent interview with George A Romero:

Quote:UC: Other than The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, any more possibilities for some King/Romero collaborations?

GR: I'd love it. If we get this one off the ground, we'll take them one at a time, but he's got a couple of things I'd love to work on. There's a TV series being contemplated now based on Nightmares and Dreamscapes. I've sort of been asked if I want to contribute to that.

Read the whole interview here.

Thanks to RJ_Sevin

Premiere photos and The Dark Tower 7 restrictions

Posted: July 23, 2004, 00:00

Galley's of The Dark Tower 7 is now being sent out. With them there are a letter asking people not to spoil the ending of it. Here is what it says:

ATTENTION: REVIEWERS

We hope you understand that, because we are giving you advance time to read and plan reviews to land in conjunction with the September 21 publication date, we are trusting you with a great secret.

PLEASE respect the Dark Tower fans that have been waiting for over thirty years to read the conclusion of Roland's quest, and do not give away the contents of this book, or pass on this galley for resale, before that date.

Thank you for your consideration.

Some pictures of King from the Los Angeles Premiere of The Manchurian Candidate has now appeared online. See more here and here.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Burning Bridges cover and Dollar Baby news

Posted: July 22, 2004, 00:00

Here is the cover to Building Bridges: Stephen King live at the National book awards. The audio is being released in August.

Here is some additional info about the Dollar Baby I've got to get away. Kamran Syed is directing it will shoot it on 35mm film. The plan is to have it finished by Christmas 2004. No casting has been done yet.

The 1st Annual "Dollar Baby" Film Festival will be held on September 25th in Bangor >Maine. They will show 2hrs worth of rarely-seen films based on King short stories. This festival is open to the public and a Q&A with directors will follow the screening. All profits will go to the Wavedancer Foundation.

If any Dollar Baby directors read this; please submit your short ASAP to: James Renner, 2200 High St. (Apt. 150), Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44221 (DVD/VHS formats only). More info to come soon.

George Romero talks The Girl who loved Tom Gordon.

Posted: July 20, 2004, 23:25

Capone: In the meantime, not counting LAND OF THE DEAD, you've got a couple other projects that are fairly far along in preproduction. Until recently, DIAMOND DEAD looked like it was going to be your next film. And where does THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON [based on the Stephen King novel] stand?

Romero: That is still very much alive. Both of them are very much alive. In fact with DIAMOND DEAD, they basically have the money to do it. The only question is, can they wait for me? We're going through that right now, or do they need to use somebody else? I think everyone involved would like to have me do it because of the "Dead" issue. As for TOM GORDON, that's an adaptation I did of Steve's novel. Steve loves it, I love it, we really want to do it, but it's not an obvious thing for either one of us. But that looks very good for us too.

Capone: At least critically, it seems to be King's non-horror stories that adapt the best into films: SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, STAND BY ME, GREEN MILE.

Romero: But not necessarily at the box office.

Capone: True. Have you even gotten as far as considering casting of the little girl in TOM GORDON. Dakota Fanning would seem the obvious choice.

Romero: We had her lined up, but that blew up after she was in MAN ON FIRE. She signed with a new manager who basically told us bye-bye. They're looking for an Oscar role for her. So that blew up. But there are still some wonderful child actors out there. That younger girl from IN AMERICA would be sensational. Be that as it may, I have real high hopes for both of those projects.

Thanks to Anders and David Sjödin.

King will do a booksigning

Posted: July 20, 2004, 00:00

To the right is an image of a bobble head that is supposed to be King. Personally I don't think it looks anything like him. Anyway, only 1500 copies of this bobble head will be done and they will be given away to the first 1500 baseball fans who enter the stadium at the Lowell Spinners minor league baseball game in Lowell Massachusetts on Friday August 13, 2004.

King will do a booksigning on Monday, Sept. 20, 2004 from 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. at Just Books Too in Greenwich, CT. (located at 28 Arcadia Rd.) to promote The Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower as part of their "Meet The Author" series.

The Just Books website states: "He will sign 200 copies of this book for the public and will only be appearing at two book signings in the New York metropolitan area."

Here are some details about the signing:

-You will have to be present to guarantee a book.
-They expect people to be limited to 1 book, bought at the store that day.
-The only book being signed is the final Dark Tower book.
-They will give tickets to people the morning of the event and the staff will be at the store early. They expect that people will be back in their place in line 15 minutes before the signing starts or forfeit their place in line.
-Once the signing starts, a ticket will not keep your place in line.

Thanks to Jonathan Reitan.

You can now order The Dark Tower 7 from Grant. The final page count is 864.

Kingdom Hospital has been nominated for two Emmys. One for outstanding main title design and one for outstanding special visual effects for a series.

Columbia has released some early details on a special DVD edition of Christine, which stars Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Harry Dean Stanton and Christine Belford. The disc will be available to own from the 28th September this year, and should retail at $19.94. As well as a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and both English and French Dolby Surround tracks, the disc will include an audio commentary with director John Carpenter and actor Keith Gordon, twenty deleted and alternate scenes, a total of three exclusive new featurettes, filmographies and previews for other Columbia releases.

Thanks again to DVD Guru Terry Warrick.

Towerpent: A Fan's Guide to Stephen King's The Dark Tower

Posted: July 18, 2004, 00:00

Tyler Hall over at thedarktower.net has written a book about The Dark Tower. The book's title is Towerpent: A Fan's Guide to Stephen King's The Dark Tower and it explores the anticipation and theories that Tower fans have been discussing while waiting over the last five or six years. The book is in two parts. One part is a reference guide. The second part is all about what it's like to be a Tower Junkie. Read more here.

Salem's Lot DVD and I know what you Need still

Posted: July 16, 2004, 00:00

Scribner has posted a description of The Dark Tower VII on their site. If you want to read it you can do so by following this link (you will need to click on one more link so don't be afraid to enter the Dark Tower VII - section).

The remake of Salem's Lot will be out on DVD 12th October 2004. Each of the episodes will be presented in 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen along with English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround tracks. There have not been any details on extra material released at the moment though.

Here is a still from the teaser trailer of I know what you Need. The sound on the trailer is being finished up now and I hope that it will soon be online. The picture is of Kevin Real who plays Edward Jackson Hamner, Jr. in both the original shoot and will reprise the role in the new one as well.

King working on a new novel

Posted: July 14, 2004, 00:00

Since it's a bit slow with King news I have gathered some items that I think you may want to pre order so you have them in your hands as soon as possible. They are:

Kingdom Hospital UK DVD (August 2, 2004)
Building Bridges (August 1, 2004)
Faithful (December 1, 2004)
The Dark Tower: A Concordance, Volume II (November 1, 2004)

I also got this encouraging info from King's official message board:

The question was whether or not The Dark Tower VII would be King's last book and the reply from the moderator was:

He is working on a new novel but it isn't currently scheduled for publication.

I know this isn't really news but it's really nice to hear that King is working on a new novel, right? Also, the paperback of Song of Susannah will be out on September 1, 2005.

Kingdom Hospital, Creepshow and audio review

Posted: July 7, 2004, 00:00

Here are two better scans of the Kingdom Hospital DVD box (region 2 edition).

Gabriel Grunfeld is working on a feature adaptation of the Stephen King short stories that were adapted for the 1982 horror anthology pic Creepshow with Barney Cohen. Project is intended as a TV series,
as well, down the line.

You can now check out my review of the audio edition of Song of Susannah.

Pop of King: A Kingdom that didn't Come

Posted: July 3, 2004, 00:00

There is a new Pop of King Column in Entertainment Weekly this week. It's in the July 9 issue (#773) with Michael Moore on the cover. As the title, A Kingdom that didn't Come, suggests, King explains why Kingdom Hospital didn't go over so well with viewers.

Thanks to CRinVA and JReitan47.

Kingdom Hospital DVD and finale

Posted: July 1, 2004, 00:00

Here is a better look at how the region 2 Kingdom Hospital DVD will look like. It's being released on August 2, 2004. You order it from Amazon.co.uk here.

ABC has rescheduled Kingdom Hospital's two-hour finale for Thursday, July 15 at 8:00/7:00c instead of 9:00/8:00c.

Building Bridges

Posted: June 30, 2004, 00:00

The earlier untitled CD with King's National Book Foundation Speech has now gotten a title. It is Building Bridges: Stephen King Live at the National Book Awards and the CD, that is 30 minutes long, is being released in August.

In other audio news. Sissy Spacek, the original Carrie in the film, will read the audiobook! The audio is released in February 2005.

Now you can order Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season from Amazon.co.uk.

Desperation starts filming in September

Posted: June 28, 2004, 23:42

I spoke to Mick Garris today and he told me that he will start shooting Desperation, which has gotten its official green light, for ABC in September. He continued by saying that the casting director starts working today, so there is no cast yet. The script however is written by King and finished and it will all result in a three-hour movie for ABC, not a miniseries.

Kingdom Hospital DVD cover

Posted: June 28, 2004, 00:00

Here is the cover for the upcoming Kingdom Hospital DVD.

A deluxe edition of The Shawshank Redemption is being released on DVD on 5th October 2004.

Thanks to David Sjödin and Terry Warrick.

The Talisman director Ed Zwick is dropping out of the project.

Posted: June 24, 2004, 23:23

"Variety says that just one month after director Ed Zwick replaced Vadim Perelman on DreamWorks' mystical The Talisman, he, too, is dropping out of the project. The problem was that the film wasn't creatively together in time for the start date. Shooting was originally slated to start in July, then September, then October.

The script, in particular, was a sticking point, adds the trade. Adapted by Ehren Kruger from Stephen King and Peter Straub's novel, the screenplay was reworked by Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro, but rewriting continues.

Steven Spielberg secured rights to the book, about a young man's journey to find a talisman that will save his mother's life, in the 1980s. The October shoot date has been cancelled and no other start date has been set. It was to be released in theaters next year."

Thanks to Rocky Wood, David Sjödin and John Flynn.

Interview with Michael Whelan

Posted: June 23, 2004, 00:00

I have done an interview with Michael Whelan who has illustrated The Dark Tower VII (which is less then 3 month away). In the interview he talks about illustrating King books, the difference between illustrating the first and the last book in the series among other things. A very interesting interview.

Here are two images from The Dark Tower VII. The one with Roland on is the endpaper and the other one is an illustration from in the book.

And here is the full cover of The Dark Tower VII without the text.

Apparently Grant is proof reading The Dark Tower VII now and they guess that the final page count is looking to be around 864 pages or so.

King working on a new novel

Posted: June 20, 2004, 00:00

In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (the one with Christian Bale on the cover), is a small article about Song of Susannah. The article also mentions that along with the upcoming baseball book, King is also working on a new novel, and says that he's not sure how it's going, but since he "retired" the pressure is off of him. How about that?

Thanks to Joseph Altomere.

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