海角大神

Massively successful author Stephen King has been writing bestselling books for so long that Hollywood has been adapting his works for generations. But this summer and fall will mark a particularly high point as multiple film and TV projects based on King鈥檚 creations make their way to both the big and the small screen.聽

A high-profile adaptation, 鈥淭he Dark Tower鈥� 鈥� a western-fantasy mashup based on King鈥檚 book series 鈥� is now in theaters. A movie version of 鈥淚t鈥� will follow shortly after on Sept. 8.聽

Meanwhile, a TV version of novella 鈥淭he Mist鈥� will conclude later this month on Spike; the Audience network will premi猫re an adaptation of 鈥淢r. Mercedes鈥� on Aug. 9; and Hulu has announced a series titled 鈥淐astle Rock鈥� (one of King鈥檚 fictional towns), though an air date has not yet been announced.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e certainly very well told, cinematic stories...,鈥� Mark Evan Schwartz, associate professor of screenwriting at the School of Film & Television at Loyola Marymount University, says. 鈥淭hey are huge bestsellers [and] they seem to cross genres.鈥澛�

But Professor Schwartz is unsure whether 鈥淭he Dark Tower鈥� will find an audience. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know the budget of the film, but I can imagine it must have been massively expensive to make,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 such a fantastic sort of mashup of genre, I wonder about its suitability as a feature.鈥� Television, he suggests, would perhaps have been a better fit.

Schwartz thinks 鈥淚t鈥� will perform well at the box office, though, in part because of its similarities to a TV phenomenon. 鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 perfectly timed because of the television series 鈥楽tranger Things,鈥� 鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd 鈥楽tranger Things鈥� was brilliant. And there are similarities there: the small-town setting, the ensemble of boys, bicycles, and creepy things happening.鈥� (The two projects also share an actor, Finn Wolfhard.) 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be a big hit,鈥� Schwartz says.