The Hollywood Reporter reports that Donald Sutherland and Jaeden Martell will star in Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. The movie is produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse and Ryan Murphy. John Lee Hancock wrote and is directing it for Netflix. Production begins this month and the plan is for the movie to debut on Netflix in 2022.
Deadline reports that John Benjamin Hickey is set to play Father Callahan in the new adaptation of Salem’s Lot. The movie is set to premier September 9, 2022.
THR reports that Pilou Asbæk (Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones) has been cast in the new Salem’s Lot movie. Asbæk takes on the role of Richard Straker, the vampire’s familiar who prepares for the arrival of his master and does plenty of dirty work.
Cary Fukunaga talks about what he wanted to do with IT.
"I was on that for four or five years with Warners and then it got moved to New Line, right before we were about to go into production. I think New Line's view of what they wanted and my view of what I wanted were very different. I wanted to do a drama with horror elements, more like 'The Shining.' I think they wanted to do something more [pure horror] like 'Annabelle' [from the 'Conjuring' films]. That was essentially the disconnect."
Read more at Slash Film. Thanks to Anders Jakobson.
During the Bloody Scotland event King held up a couple of pages from the book his currently working on. He also said it’s a Holly Gibney book talking place in 2021 and that he wanted to use the Corona virus as a major thing in the book.
King has a new short story out called Red Screen. It’s available in eBook format exclusively from Humble Bundle for one week only starting September 9th.
"RED SCREEN"
In this unsettling short story, a city detective interrogates a deranged plumber who just murdered his wife, only to discover something far more insidious.
"RED SCREEN" is available in eBook format exclusively from Humble Bundle for one week only starting September 9th. Humble Bundle is a digital content retailer that builds charitable donations into each and every sale. Since 2010, The Humble Community has contributed over 199 million dollars to causes across the globe. In this special solo offering, 100 percent of proceeds will go to the ACLU, a charity handpicked by Stephen King.
William Sadler revealed that he is part of the upcoming remake of Salem's Lot. No word on who he will play but I have a feeling he will keep us updated.
Alfre Woodard joins the cast of Salem's Lot. Alfre will play Dr. Cody who assists Ben Mears and Susan Norton to fight the vampires.
Isn't Dr. Cody a man some of you might ask? And yes, in the book Dr. Jimmy Cody is a man but I don't see that this change will be a problem for the movie.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone from If It Bleeds is Netflix’s fourth take on a King story.
John Lee Hancock is set to write and direct and Ryan Murphy will serve as a producer on the movie. According to issue 1261 of Production Weekly the movie is set to enter production in October 2021 in Connecticut, US. There is no word on how long filming will take or when the movie will premier but a good guess is that Netflix will aim for a 2022 release.
Makenzie Leigh, Bill Camp and Spencer Treat Clark has been cast in the remake of Salem’s Lot. Leigh will play Susan Norton, Camp is Matthew Burke and Clark is Mike Ryerson.
Garrett Hedlund stars in King’s Strawberry Spring podcast. The eight-part story - which also stars Milo Ventimiglia, Herizen F. Gaurdiola, Sydney Sweeney, Ken Marino, Al Madrigal, and Brec Bassinger — was recorded in April and premiers on September 1st.
Here’s a chance for all lf you that wants a signed King book and support a good cause.
This August the Friends of Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library will raffle off 10 signed Stephen King Books (see image).
Tickets will go on sale on August 1st with an online live drawing at 12pm EDT on September 1, 2021. Tickets will cost $15 for one, $30 for three, and $10 for each ticket thereafter.
One winning ticket per individual (If we draw your name a second time we will put it aside, so we encourage you to buy tickets for your friends and family!) and we will choose the title of the book.
Tickets will be available from August 1st at the library, through our website: friendsofhobbslibrary.org via PayPal, and at our Arts & Artisans Fair on August 21 at New Suncook School in Lovell.
All proceeds will benefit the Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library.
This year, Bloody Scotland's hybrid festival will give festival goers in Stirling the full-on festival experience while allowing authors and readers who can’t be there in person the opportunity to join in the fun.
Running from the 17-19th September, our 2021 festival will include the likes of Kathy Reichs, Karin Slaughter, Lee Child and Stephen King who will be beamed into the Albert Halls via live video link up where real life chairs will put questions to them in front of a live and digital audience.
Tickets
This year, there are many ways to participate in Bloody Scotland Festival. You can choose to watch events live in Stirling or online, or a combination of both. If you’re watching online, you can purchase tickets for individual events or a digital pass. There are ticket options to suit all.
In-person events for those in Stirling:
Albert Halls £10 per ticket
Live video link events at Albert Halls £8 per ticket
Golden Lion £8 per ticket
Online events
Single event £5
Digital Pass bought before midnight on 16 September £35
Digital Pass bought from 17 – 30 September £45
Best of Both Worlds package
Buy 5 tickets to live events in Stirling and buy your digital pass half price:
Bought before midnight on 16 September £67.50
Bought from 17 to 29 September £77.50
Henry Thomas and Samantha Mathis have joined the follow-up to 2019’s Pet Sematary. No word on who they’ll play or when the movie will premier but production began last week.
Dread Central reports that as part of a new overall deal with CBS Studios, Alex Kurtzman will spearhead a series adaptation of King’s short story The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates.
Last time we heard something about this one was 5 years ago when the people behind Haven was supposed to do it. Let’s see if something happens now…
Here’s an interesting interview with Peter Straub. Among the things he talks about (starts 29 minutes in) is his collaboration with King on The Talisman and Black House. He also says it’s unlikely that the third book will ever be written…
Starting tomorrow I will announce the winners of the big 25-anniversary contest. I won’t announce all winners at once though so be patient.
Here is how they will be announced.
Tusesday Aug. 3:
Forth runner up who gets a copy of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Pop-up book, in the original shrink-wrap is Elaine Giglio
Third runner up who get a copy of Blockade Billy, first edition hardcover in slipcase. Fine/Fine is Greg Lew
Wednesday Aug. 4:
Second runner up who get a copy of The Dark Man, First edition hardcover. Fine/Fine is Benny Muniz
Thursday Aug. 5:
First runner up who get a copy of Faithful, First edition hardcover. Fine/Fine is Deb Frank
Friday Aug. 6:
Grand Prize winner who get a signed first edition of JUST AFTER SUNSET Fine/Fine with slipcase the same. Includes receipt, flyer and bookmark from the book signing event is Melissa Werner
Looks like Overlook is moving from HBO Max to Netflix.
HBO Max has opted not to proceed with Overlook, the drama project from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Prods. inspired by Stephen King’s The Shining. The company and studio Warner Bros. Television are currently shopping the show, which is expected to land at a new home soon, with Netflix a likely destination, I hear. Reps for Bad Robot, WBTV and Netflix declined comment.
Here are my thoughts of Billy Summers, out tomorrow. The review is fairly spoiler free (don’t want to ruin the surprices for you) except for the mentioning of a connection to another of King’s books…
Billy Summers is written in the same tone as King’s other book for 2021, Later. They are both character driven, and I enjoy that. There aren’t any ghosts or supernatural elements in Billy Summers so if you’re expecting that you will be disappointed.
The prequel to Pet Sematary has added “Jackie Brown” star Pam Grier to its cast. There is still no title but the film is reported to start shooting in August and will debut exclusively on Paramount Plus on an yet undetermined date.
Looks like the new adaptation of Salem’s Lot (written and directed by Gary Dauberman), is set to begin filming soon in Ipswich, Massachusetts! Ipswich Local News reported:
Downtown will again be used as a backdrop when filmmakers roll into town in September.
Filming will take place in the AnnTiques area of South Main Street for five or six days, town manager Tony Marino told the select board on Monday.
The movie planned is ‘Salem’s Lot, a remake of Stephen King’s classic tale about vampires in small-town Maine.
King has partnered with Audio Up Media, iHeart Media and award-winning producer Lee Metzger for his first podcast, Strawberry Spring which will be based on his with the same name TheWrap has learned exclusively.
Metzger will write and direct the podcast series, with a cast that includes Garrett Hedlund, Milo Ventimiglia, Herizen F. Guardiola, Sydney Sweeney, Ken Marino and Al Madrigal. More cast members will be announced at a later date. Emmy Award winner Philip Alberstat will produce.
Lisey’s Story has aired it’s last episode and here are my thoughts about it.
Let me know what you think.
I like it but I think it will divide the fans into two camps. Those who, like me, appreciate that it’s a rather slow burner that takes it’s time and those who think it’s too slow. Either way there is one thing you can’t deny. It looks beautiful.
McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #65 (containing King’s Willie the Weirdo) has been pushed forward from it’s original release date (September 16, 2021) to January 6, 2022. You can still pre-order your copy here though.
The 2019 version of Pet Sematary turned King’s story into a teenage B-movie and the latest casting news for the follow-up indicates that it’s heading the same way. The Hollywood Reporter reports…
The latest Pet Sematary installment is filling out its cast ahead of its upcoming August start date.
Mare of Easttown actor Jack Mulhern and Forrest Goodluck, who is known for starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, have joined the untitled feature, along with Big Sky actress Natalie Alyn Lind and newcomer Isabella Star LaBlanc.
Richard Chizmar reported that Trapped (based on an original story by Chizmar and King) will be feature film directed by Mark Pavia (The Night Flyer. The script is by Mark Pavia, Richard Chizmar and Billy Chizmar. The movie will be produced by Nadia Redler and David Chackler.
Deadline reports that Jackson White is in final negotiations to star as Jud Crandall in the follow-up adaptation of 2019's Pet Sematary. It seems they are going for a prequel since Jud will be younger than in the original movie.
The film is set to begin shooting in August and will debut exclusively on Paramount+.