Here is the cover for the limited edition of Under the Dome. This edition has the art as the regular edition, but there is a bellyband that wraps the book and can be removed where the jacket becomes a piece of art with no writing on it.
More about Haven from The Blobe and Mail:
Stephen King has penned some of the literary world's most memorable horror novels, from Carrie to The Shining. But what in the name of Cujo could possibly send shivers up the author's spine?
The answer has finally come: U.S. television studios.
In a deal that will be announced today in Cannes, France, Mr. King has partnered with Canadian television producer E1 Entertainment Inc. to make his latest creation, a television series titled Haven, based on his best-selling novella The Colorado Kid.
It is a deal that shatters the conventions of big-budget television productions. Rather than take his concept directly to a Hollywood studio, the author has specifically gone outside of the U.S. in order to retain more creative control over how the series is made.
When complete, Haven will be offered up to networks to buy, but the author is strategically looking to avoid the studio formula of producing a pilot episode, then hoping it generates enough interest to be picked up for a whole season. Instead, Toronto-based E1 will make an entire season - 13 one-hour episodes - before it is shopped to broadcasters in several countries, including the U.S.
"He had his reasons. He might have been disillusioned a little with the development process in the U.S.," Peter Emerson, president of E1's television division, said of Mr. King's decision to partner with the Canadian company.
"He wants to be able to do it without putting it through a studio that's going to pay 100 per cent of it and consequently have that control. ... That created a unique problem for us, because that's not normally how the business works. Normally you get the U.S. studios involved first and then sell internationally."
Mr. King is not commenting on the deal. However, the author is said to have been upset with the treatment of some of his work on television and in films, and also wants to retain a greater share of the proceeds from Haven than he would if the rights were bought by a studio.
The concept of making a complete season is outside the norm for the big TV studios, which want to limit their financial risk if a show stumbles in its first few episodes. However, the full-season model has been increasingly used by premium cable networks, such as HBO and Showtime, and other cable outlets to develop more complete storylines.
Mr. King, who has sold more than 300 million horror novels in his career, began talking to E1 last year when he decided to adapt The Colorado Kid to television. The story is based on the cursed residents of a small town in Maine. E1 was initially approached by Mr. King's agent, Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency, based on its past work making shows for U.S. and Canadian networks.
The company has helped make Hung for HBO, The Bridge for CBS and CTV, and Copper for ABC and Global Television. To secure the financing needed to make a TV series that is network quality, E1 needed a partner to help it foot the bill of more than $2-million (U.S.) an episode for Haven.
For that, E1 turned to the international arm of NBC's production studio, Universal Networks International. In exchange for putting up some of the production budget, Universal will get the rights to show Haven on pay-television channels outside North America and Scandinavia. E1 is free to sell the show in North America, noting that it will likely end up on science fiction channels on cable. Though Universal is connected to NBC in the U.S., the network has no claim over Mr. King's series.
The U.S. studio model has been in flux since the Hollywood writer's strike two years ago forced the major networks to look beyond heir own operations for new shows. Roma Khanna, president of Universal's international operations, said the deal is a nod to the increasing quality of Canadian productions and a sign of the shift in the U.S. market.
"It says a lot of the production world that we're in now, to think outside the traditional U.S. studio system," said Ms. Khanna, a former executive with CHUM Ltd. in Toronto who moved to Universal's London office three years ago.
It looks good for Haven. This was reported by Variety today:
Universal Networks finds 'Haven'
Global dvision to co-finance Stephen King drama
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDERMore
Universal Networks Intl., the newly rebranded global channels unit of NBC Universal, has signed on to co-finance the Stephen King drama "Haven."
In the case of "Haven," E1 Entertainment is behind the show -- based on the King novella "The Colorado Kid" -- and will produce 13 episodes (Daily Variety, Sept. 28). Universal has acquired exclusive pay TV rights across the globe except for the U.S., Canada and Scandinavia, where distribution is still being sought.
Deal reps E1's first major pact with Universal Networks Intl.
Marvel has published a nice article about what has happened so far in The Dark Tower series and added some black/white sketches of the upcoming #6. Check it out here
Here's a selection of photos from Artists Inspired by Stephen King that was released by the publisher. It gives you a feeling of just how big this book is. They also wanted me to tell you that the book has shipped from China and is expected to be in the U.S. in a few short weeks. So, if you haven’t ordered your copy yet, do it now. You can order it here.
As you might have read galley's of my book where sent out some time ago and now people are starting to mention it. And with the risk of sounding to proud of the book I'm going to publish links to all reviews here on the site, good AND bad, so if you find any, please send me the link.
Simon & Schuster Canada is pleased to welcome international bestselling author Stephen King to Toronto for an exclusive Canadian in person appearance on November 19th, 2009 at the Canon Theatre. The legendary horror, science fiction, and fantasy author has written more than fifty bestselling books and is the 2007 recipient of The Canadian Booksellers Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Stephen King visits Toronto to celebrate the launch of his epic new novel, Under the Dome.
For this exclusive in person event King will be joined in conversation by highly-acclaimed Canadian director, writer, and producer David Cronenberg on stage at the elegant Canon Theatre.
Hosted by Canadian television and radio personality George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC television program The Hour, the evening will commence at 8:00pm with introductions followed by an in-depth interview with Stephen King led by David Cronenberg.
Tickets go on sale on Friday, October 2nd for $33 and $28 (Service charges apply to phone and internet orders. All prices are in Canadian dollars and include GST & CIF. Seating is subject to availability) and will be available by phone at TicketKing (416) 872-1212 or 1(800)461-3333,
online at www.ticketking.com, or in person at these box offices: The Royal Alexandra Theatre (260 King Street West) or The Princess of Wales Theatre (300 King Street West).
This was posted on King's official board about The TimesTalks event:
The TimesTalks has posted an update for their simulcast locations. You can find the list of participating theaters at this link (see the Choose a Country section and follow the links through). There is also a link to submit a question for consideration by the moderator at the event. I did not see the pricing for the tickets on their page, though, and do not know if pricing is set by the local theaters.
Check out my review of It Grows On You: And Other Stories, The End of the Whole Mess: And Other Stories and Sorry, Right Number: And Other Storieshere.
According to Variety, E1 Entertainment has committed to 13 hour-long episodes adapting Stephen King’s novella The Colorado Kid into a television series called Haven.
Scott Shepherd will serve as showrunner and exec produce with Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller, all three of whom were exec producers on USA Network's version of The Dead Zone.
Two more Dead Zone alumni, Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn, are writing the pilot and will also serve as exec producers.
The report describes the project as, “centers on a spooky town in Maine where cursed folk live normal lives in exile. When those curses start returning, FBI agent Audrey Parker is brought in to keep those supernatural forces at bay — while trying to unravel the mysteries of Haven.”
E1 is in advanced talks with several European broadcast partners to sign on and help finance the show. After securing an international partner, the company will turn its attention to finding U.S. and Canadian broadcasters.
Cemetery Dance sent a copy of my book (a galley) to Peter Straub and he in return sent me this very kind quote that I just had to share with you all:
"Lilja's Library: The World of Stephen King is like beautifully prepared and presented red meat to any admirer of Stephen King. Mr. Lilja has tracked down his many quarries and used them to create this massive treatment of King's work and his world. His book is pure testimony to the love Stephen King is capable of arousing in his readers."
— Peter Straub, co-author of The Talisman and Black House
Very good news from the moderator of King's board:
Steve gave me the okay to scan another 60 pages which I will do and have posted by the end of the week but he also said not to expect any more until at least next year --or possibly not at all.
As many of you have noticed there are some Dark Tower things going on. Over at http://www.stephenking.com/darktower/ there is a teaser up for something that is coming in November.
There has been speculations flying high and low since that teaser was posted. Some thinks it’s an ad for the last story arc in the Dark Tower comic. Some think it’s going to be an interactive game based on The Dark Tower and then there is this theory that I’m hoping for.
When we were chatting about his upcoming book Under the Dome, a novel with political subtext out in November, King said he had recently had an idea for a short story. “And then I thought, ‘Well, why don’t I find three more like this and do a book that would be almost like modern fairy tales?’ Then this thing started to add on bits and pieces so I guess it will be a novel.” That idea, according to King, is for a new Dark Tower novel, a continuation of his epic seven-part fantasy/sci-fi/Western series about a lone gunslinger named Roland and his ongoing hunt for the Man in Black. “It’s not really done yet,” King admits of his magnum opus. “Those seven books are really sections of one long uber-novel.”
This is from this blog (written in March) by Lorrie Lynch who got this info while doing this interview.
No one knows for sure though but the moderator of King’s official board has promised that there will be more info in mid-October.
Maybe King will give us 60 aditional pages from The Cannibals...if we want it. Here is what the moderator of King's board posted today:
I told Steve that everyone was loving what has been released so far. He told me to ask if you'd like another 60 or so pages. I told him I didn't even have to ask--of course you would, but he told me to ask anyway. So, is there anybody out there who would like to see another 60 pages?
Now you’ll be able to see King even if you can’t attend:
Live from NY -- it's King, in a theater near you!
Yesterday at 7:00pm
Here's an interesting option for people who can't make it to one of King's events this fall:
The New York Times Launches ‘TimesTalks LIVE’
Simulcasts of TimesTalks Conversations from TheTimesCenter
Co-Presented with BY Experience, Inc.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The New York Times announced today the launch of TimesTalks LIVE, broadcasts of intimate discussions with today’s top talents and thinkers from TheTimesCenter. The simulcasts will be transmitted live, in high definition via satellite to movie theaters and other venues across the United States and Canada. Approximately 75 locations will participate in the pilot screenings, which is co-presented with BY Experience with additional sites expected to join.
The participating sites, to date, include 54 Cineplex theaters throughout Canada and 20 independent venues in the U.S. including California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.
The first events to be broadcast will feature: John Irving in conversation with Times writer at large Charles McGrath, on Wednesday, Oct. 28; and Stephen King in conversation with Times book critic Janet Maslin on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Audiences at the various locations will have the opportunity to submit questions for consideration by the respective moderator in advance of each event through the TimesTalks Web site. For tickets, participating venues and theater box offices, please visit www.TimesTalks.com.
More cool stuff that will be in The Stephen King Illustrated Companion:
A look inside The Shining. The title page, dated May 13, 1975, still bears King's original title, The Shine, along with a handwritten note to Bill Thompson. Three pages from the original manuscript show how King changed his mind about Danny's encounter with the fire hose outside room 217 in Chapter 19. The first draft of "Inside 217" --the famous bathtub scene--containing King's hand-written revisions and annotations. In this draft, Danny's mother is named...(you'll have to check out the book to find the answer to that question!)
Samuel L. Jackson to quit smoking as Quitter's Inc. gets remade.
Johnathn Schaech started his acting career taking the lead in Franco Zeffirelli’s THE SPARROW. He went on to play the title characters in HOUDINI and JUDAS and starred in such films as HUSH, THE FORSAKEN, THE DOOM GENERATION and Tom Hanks' THAT THING YOU DO - to name a few. Recently he starred in two award-winning indies, LITTLE CHENIER and SEA OF DREAMS. In 2008 he starred in the theatrical blockbusters QUARANTINE and PROM NIGHT. Johnathon has written for Showtime’s MASTERS OF HORROR series, and last year he wrote for NBC’s new series FEAR ITSELF. Schaech is currently writing the screenplay for Stephen King’s FROM A BUICK 8 for horror master Tobe Hooper and Stephen King’s QUITTERS INC. for Samuel L Jackson.
Rich Chizmar and John Schaech have been asked to write the screenplay but the production is waiting for clearance of the rights because Quitters, Inc. had already been produced as part of Cat's Eye.
Here is an update on the movie version of From a Buick 8 from the moderator of King’s board:
I received this update from Rich Chizmar (owner of the film rights) on Friday (9/18):
"Tobe Hooper still attached as director, along with Amicus Films as our producing partner, as well as Mick Garris. Script is good shape. I know some of the funding is in place. They are still shaking the trees for the rest."
Here are more info about the Baltimore and Toronto signings:
Info for Baltimore area:
Wednesday, November 11th
6:00 PM
Wal-Mart #2435
2399 North Point Boulevard
Dundalk, MD 21222
410-284-5412
Wristbands will be handed out at 7:00 AM that morning. The first 400 people will get a wristband. Right before the event, they'll move the line to the raised stage area. There will be an area for those who were not able to obtain a wrist band at which Steve will speak for about 15 minutes before the actual signing begins. There will be a back-up line in the event that Steve is able to get through more than the first 400 people in the two hours allotted.
__________________
Toronto
An Evening with Stephen King
Thursday, November 19th
8:00pm
Canon Theatre
244 Victoria Street
Toronto, ON M5B 1V8
(416) 872-1212
Tickets are not yet on-sale so please do not call the theater yet. We hope to have prices and ticket ordering info by the end of the week.
__________________
These are the only venues for this tour:
November 10th TimesTalks, New York City Sold Out
November 11th Wal-Mart, Dundalk, MD Book signing
November 13th Barnes & Noble, Peachtree
Atlanta Book signing
November 16th Van Wezel, Sarasota, FL On stage event
November 18th St. Paul, MN Sold Out
November 19th Canon Theatre, Toronto On stage event
December 1st Writers on a NE Stage,
Portsmouth, NH Sold Out
December 2nd Northshire Bookstore,
Manchester, VT On stage event
The play/musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County is now on the back burner. It does look like that there will be a CD release next year though that’s supposed to contain "the book," which is simply the text of the proposed musical. Everything but the lyrics. It won't really read like a novel though.
According to Rolling Stone, two of the artists performing on the CD will be Elvis Costello and Neko Case.
King will be writing for Fangoria:
Stephen King, the world’s best-selling author of horror and dark fantasy, has submitted an exclusive, all-new article for publication in FANGORIA magazine. The 7,500-plus-word essay, entitled “What’s Scary,” will be published in two parts, beginning with FANGORIA #289, on sale in December, and concluding in FANGORIA #290, arriving in January 2010. “I’ve wanted to be a Fango contributor ever since I purchased my first issue,” King says. “For me, this is a nightmare come true.”
“What’s Scary” critiques the last decade of genre cinema, from 1999’s phenomenon THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT to this past summer’s surprise smash DISTRICT 9. He also chooses his favorite films and touches on the recent flood of horror remakes and zombie flicks, making many surprising and enlightening observations.
“Stephen’s article not only arrives just in time for the holidays, but is also the perfect way for FANGORIA to wrap up 2009, the year we celebrated the magazine’s 30th anniversary,” says Fango editor Tony Timpone. “It has always been a dream of mine to have King listed as a contributor on our masthead, and the fact that he has written enough for two issues is just icing on the cake.”
The author promises to answer the following questions in his piece (excerpted from his introduction): “First,” King writes, “why do so many so-called horror movies, even those with big budgets (maybe especially those with big budgets) not work? Second, why do fans of the genre such as myself so often go in with high hopes and come out feeling unsatisfied…and, worse, unscared? Third, and most important, why is it that others—sometimes that most unheralded others, those with teensy budgets and unknown, untried actors—do work, surprising us with terror and amazement?”
King has been featured in FANGORIA’s pages since its earliest issues. For Fango’s 100th edition (pictured left), the Maine resident told interviewer Philip Nutman, “It’s one of the magazines that comes into the house that we all fight over. FANGORIA is always welcome in my house.” King is the author of over 60 novels, which have sold an estimated 350 million copies worldwide and spawned dozens of feature films and TV series, movies and miniseries. In 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded King the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, one of many prestigious accolades he has garnered over the years. King’s latest novel, the gargantuan apocalyptic epic UNDER THE DOME, arrives November 10 from Scribner.
Bloomsbury Auctions
To be sold by auction on Thursday 24th September at 2:00 pm
108. Stephen KING (American, b. 1947) Self-portrait. ink on verso of "Books & Co." bookmark 8 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches (227 x 80 mm)
signed.
The undisputed master of the horror story, King has won eight Bram Stoker awards and was honored with an O. Henry Award in 1996 for his New Yorker story, The Man in the Black Suit. In 2003, King received a Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation.
"At a publisher's party in Los Angeles during a book fair, someone spotted King in the crowd. He dared me to go over and get his S-P - 'You get Dante and Shakespeare and Muhammed Ali to do them for you, why don't you ask somebody really famous?' So I did, and this was the result. He was a really nice guy, and a Red Sox fan, to boot". -- Burt Britton
Here is more from the content of The Stephen King Illustrated Companion:
1) Final galley page from The Stand containing the Author's Note, with King's handwritten changes and additions.
2) Manuscript pages for the scene where Larry Underwood and Rita escape from New York via the Lincoln Tunnel. King has identified this as his favorite scene in the book.
Bev Vincent keeps giving us sneek peaks on what's going to be included in his upcoming book The Illustrated Stephen King Companion. Here is what he has told us so far:
- First pages from manuscript of The Gunslinger, The Stand, Pet Sematary & Dead Zone
- A familiar scene of Needful Things
- A completely different scene from Insomnia
- The 43rd Dream (before it gets reprinted, only ONE copy is known to exist)
- A 3 line cartoon by Stephen King
- Excerpts from unpublished stories!
- Reproduction of several pages of the first part of I Was a Teenage Grave Robber, King's first story publication.
Scribners Under the Dome page is now online. On it you can read and listen to excerpts from the book as well as other fun stuff. No cover until September 21 though. The limited ed. of the book has now sold out.
For the first time ever, we will be able to read an excerpt from The Cannibals on September 15th. This is the story which originally inspired Under the Dome and it will be posted on StephenKing.com.
Also, don't forget that Scribner begins its promotion campaign for Under the Dome on September 15th. Many special features are in the works.
The signed collector's edition of Under the Dome will also be going on sale September 15th and will only be available through Simon & Schuster (limited to U.S. orders only).
I got a chance to check out the book Artists Inspired by Stephen King and I’m very impressed with what I saw. There are illustrations and covers that I didn’t even know excised and also interviews and information from and about a lot of illustrators connected to King’s work. One that stood out a little extra was Bernie Wrightson talking about a very scary dream he had as a kid. I was also honored to see that they had included a passage from one of my interviews with King in the book. A regular review will be published on the site soon.
King's latest column is called What's Next For Pop Culture? It starts:
"Because I love the culture I write about, these columns are usually lighthearted. Not this time."
It is not yet online.
Also, EW has started up a new section called "The $ave", which recommends things based on how much money you have. In this week's issue it has this:
$20
Stephen King says...
"I would go see the horror movie Carriers. Six bucks. A medium popcorn (lots of butter), Junior Mints, and Diet Pepsi can be had for an additional $12.50. A fine time, and a dollar left over for an instant-scratch lottery ticket. If my wife wants to come with me (doubtful, considering the subject matter), we'd share a small popcorn and Coke. For love, I can economize."
Dread Central just reported the following:
After tackling Clive Barker's work with The Midnight Meat Train director Ryuhei Kitamura is now moving on to another literary genius ... Stephen King as Our Thing Productions is readying a live action adaptation of the Nightmares and Dreamscapes zombie tale, Home Delivery.
Paul Buckholts of Our Thing dropped us a line with the following tidbits of news to share with you: "My twin brother John and I optioned the film rights and have adapted Stephen King’s zombie short story HOME DELIVERY (from Nightmares and Dreamscapes). Visionary Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura (The Midnight Meat Train) is attached to direct.