stephenking

In 1990, when I was in middle school, ABC aired a two-part miniseries based on Stephen King's gargantuan novel IT. I had a television in my room, so I had a place to watch shows my parents didn't want to watch, so I stretched out on my bed and watched the movie. Perhaps I was just a wuss (and I was) but the movie scared the living crap out of me. Fast forward to college, and my then girlfriend and I decide to rent IT, which I had not seen since those two nail-biting nights in my room back in 1990. I have to say I didn't have the same reaction as before. I found it to be rather mediocre, and mildly frightening at best. Also, by that time I had actually read the book, so I knew what most fans of King's work already know, which is that movie and television adaptations of his work can be very hit and miss, but mostly miss.

But that's not going to stop them from trying it again. Peter Filardi, who already adapted 'Salem's Lot for TNT and is helming "The Road Virus Heads North" segment of the upcoming Nightmares and Dreamscapes series, told Fangoria he's developing IT for the SciFi Channel. Originally he was to make a two-hour version of the novel for TNT, but will instead stretch it out to a four-hour movie for SciFi. The article further states that the adaptation will tell the story "through the eyes of the character of Beverly Marsh."

Despite what the Internet Movie Database says, Desperation, the next TV adaptation of a Stephen King novel, will be produced as a feature for ABC, not a miniseries. King, on his official Web site, is singing the praises of director Mick Garris (who also helmed other King television adaptations such as The Stand and The Shining) and a cast which includes Ron Perlman, Henry Thomas, and Tom Skerritt. The question is: will it actually be as good as King says? Probably not, but both The Stand and The Shining were decent miniseries, especially when compared to such dreck as The Tommyknockers (where the cast seemed unaware of what movie they were in most of the time) and The Langoliers which ended with some awesome digital effects of creatures devouring time and space but was preceded by two hours of actors devouring my will to live.