Hodder & Stoughton tells me the UK edition of Cell has been pushed forward and that the new release date is February 27th. The US edition is still set for release on January 24th.
A DVD called ABC Fall Preview Disc DVD (2005) is now given to everyone that gets season 1 of Desperate Housewives at Walmart. On this DVD there are previews for upcoming shows and movies on ABC. And as you may have guessed by now one of the movies is Desperation. So remember this if your thinking of buying season 1 of Desperate Housewives. And if anyone gets this DVD, please let me know.
I have gotten confirmation from TNT that Nightmares & Dreamscapes will air next summer. I also learned today that Fifth Quarter is directed by Rob Bowman (X-files, Electra etc).
So, Cemetery Dance's new site is up and on it they are giving us a real treat. There are some very interesting excerpts there. Two is from the upcoming Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished, one from Sword in the Darkness
and one from Wimsey. You can read both here.
There is also an excerpt from Frank Darabont's wonderful book Walpuski's Typewriter. You can read that one here.
Here are two illustrations from The Mist that will be in the book Dark Forces 25th aniversary, published by Lonely Roads.
King visiting the UK? Well it's not totally impossible. This is what the moderator of King's board answered on a question about it:
He's done at least two book tours in the UK and is considering another for next year but we have not made any definite plans for it. I am skeptical about a book tour for Cell and think it would be more likely for Lisey's Story, but that's speculation on my part.
I got an email from Mick Garris today and he told me that he won't do Home Delivery for Nightmares & Dreamscapes due to scheduling issues. No replacement story has been revealed yet.
On the official site for The Dead Zone they now say that season 5 will air in June 2006. That probably means that season 4 will be out on DVD sometime before that.
Here is a description of Cell from Scribner:
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Civilization doesn't end with a bang or a whimper. It ends with a call on your cell phone.
What happens on the afternoon of October 1 came to be known as the Pulse, a signal sent though every operating cell phone that turns its user into something...well, something less than human. Savage, murderous, unthinking-and on a wanton rampage. Terrorist act? Cyber prank gone haywire? It really doesn't matter, not to the people who avoided the technological attack. What matters to them is surviving the aftermath. Before long a band of them-"normies" is how they think of themselves-have gathered on the grounds of Gaiten Academy, where the headmaster and one remaining student have something awesome and terrifying to show them on the school's moonlit soccer field. Clearly there can be no escape. The only option is to take them on.
CELL is classic Stephen King, a story of gory horror and white-knuckling suspense that makes the unimaginable entirely plausible and totally fascinating.
I spoke with Peter Straub today and took the opportunity to ask him about the 3rd book about Jack Sawyer. He told me that he and King want to do it and that it might happen in four to five years.
Here is the correct info about Nightmares & Dreamscapes and this info is confirmed:
Episode 1: You Know They Have a Hell of a Band Script: Mike Robe Director: Mike Robe Cast:
* Steven Weber -- Clark Rivingham
* Kim Delaney -- Mary Rivingham
* Bert Labonte -- Otis Reddding
Episode 2: Umney's Last Case Script: Director: Rob Bowman Cast:
* William H Macy -- Clyde Umney
* Jacqueline McKenzie -- Linda Landry
* Sigrid Thornton -- Mrs. Strnwood
* Louis Corbett -- Danny Landry
Episode 3: End of the Whole Mess Script: Larry Cohen Director: ?? Cast:
* Ron Livingston
* Henry Thomas
* Rebecca Gibney --- India
Episode 4: Fifth Quarter Script: ?? Director: Rob Bowman Cast:
* Jeremy Sisto
* Samantha Mathis
Episode 5: The Road Virus Heads North Script: ?? Director: ?? Cast:
* Tom Berenger
* Marsha Mason
Episode 6: Battleground Script: Richard Christian Matheson Director: Brian Henson Cast:
* William Hurt
Episode 7: Crouch End Script: Kim Lemasters Director: ?? Cast:
Episode 8: Home Delivery (this one is a maybe though) Script: Mick Garris Director: Mick Garris Cast:
The End of the Whole Mess will be the sixth confirmed episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes and it is in the process of being cast.
More news about Nightmares & Dreamscapes. IMDB.com reports that one of the segments will be based on Dolan's Cadillac. Gabriel Byrne will play Dolan and Freddie Prinze Jr. Robinson.
They also report that William H. Macy will play Clyde Umney, Jacqueline McKenzie Linda Landry and Sigrid Thornton Mrs. Sternwood in Umney's Last Case. They also report that Sharon Stone will be in it but this has previously been denied by a spokeswoman for Stone so we'll have to see what is correct.
Further they report that Kim Delaney will play Mary Rivingham, Bert Labonte Otis Reddding and Stephen Webber Clark Rivingham in You know they got a hell of a band.
Besides this they meniton that Andy Anderson, Rebecca Gibney, Harold Hopkins, Ron Livingston, Jeremy Sisto, Henry Thomas and Richard Thomas will be starting in the series.
Amazon.com has listed something called Stephen King's Dark Tower Graphic Novel and my guess is that it's the hardback with all six issues of The Dark Tower comics.
More news about Nightmares & Dreamscapes today. IMDB.com reports that one of the
segments will be based on Dolan's Cadillac. Gabriel Byrne will play Dolan and Freddie Prinze Jr. Robinson.
They also report that William H. Macy will play Clyde Umney, Jacqueline McKenzie Linda Landry and Sigrid Thornton Mrs. Sternwood in Umney's Last Case. They also report that Sharon Stone will be in it but this has previously been denied by a spokeswoman for Stone so we'll have to see what is correct.
Further they report that Kim Delaney will play Mary Rivingham, Bert Labonte Otis Reddding and Stephen Webber Clark Rivingham in You know they got a hell of a band. Besides this they meniton that Andy Anderson, Rebecca Gibney, Harold Hopkins, Ron Livingston, Jeremy Sisto, Henry Thomas and Richard Thomas will be starting in the series.
Here is the latest column from Entertainment Weekly. It's called Lights in a Box.
Thanks to Grzesiek Tupikowski and Paul Poroshin.
Join best-selling author Stephen King for the Second Annual Writers in Paradise Conference to be held January 21-29, 2006, at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. For more information, visit www.writersinparadise.com or call 727-864-7994.
Johnathon Schaech and Richard Chizmar has written the script for a movie version of King's From A Buick 8 as well as an adaptation of King and Peter Straub's Black House for Akiva GoldsmanAkiva Goldsman's Weed Road Prods. George A. Romero will direct From A Buick 8. Read the entire article here.
Thanks to everyone that sent me info about this.
Here is, to my knowledge, the first English spoken King audio book that has been recorded and released in France. It's the story The Word Processor of the Gods. It was released in March 2005 and narrated by Jean-Pierre Berman. You can order a copy here.
Bev Vincent reported the following:
Rob Bowman is now filming Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes: Umney's Last Case, starring William H. Macy (Sahara) and Jackie McKenzie (TV's The 4400).
And Ron Livingston (see photo), star of “Office Space” is in Australia shooting an installment of an upcoming TNT series based on Stephen King short stories.
There's a flash memorial book on the late Ed Mcbain's site and on one of the pages there's a one-page text by king.
Thanks to Dohi.
Cemetery Dance have sent Stephen King: Uncollected and Unpublished to the printer and it will now be released in December.Remember, it is limited to 2000 (a large portion of which have already been pre-sold) and includes the first ever publication of a lengthy chapter from King's unpublished 1970 novel Sword in the Darkness, along with the first mass market publication of the poem, Dino.
-The Writer's Survival Guide, (published by The Writer Magazine), no date on cover or inside, however it states "Display until January 31, 2006" on cover. It contains King's 6 page non-fiction piece "All The Writing Advice You Need, In 10 Minutes".
-Mad Classics #3, Nov. 2005, contains a 7 page parody on "The Shining" movie ("The Shiner).
Thanks to Jonathan Reitan
If you want you can now listen to an interview I did with Meridian Writing on BBC radio back in 2002 (I appear about 10 min into the program). Please comment on it if you want but please remember that English isn't my first language, OK? Enjoy.
Some sad news. Michael Piller, co-creator and executive producer of The Dead Zone, died November 1 at the age of 57 following a long battle with cancer.
* Stephen is reading Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman (Excellent)
* He is also reading This Book Will Save Your Life, by A.M. Homes (Excellent)
* On television, Stephen is watching Veronica Mars (Very Good)
Here is a nice review of the audio book of The Shining.
There has been a lot of info about The Dark Tower comics so I thought I would try to summarize what's happening for you:
* There will be 6 issues.
* They will be released in April, May, June, July, August and September 2006.
* In time for the holiday in 2006, all 6 parts will be released together in a hardback edition.
* The first mini-series is set in a time when Roland, Alain and Cutherbert were boys. The series is drawing heavily from Wizard and Glass and the story occurs when the trio were boys. Much of it will be during the time in Hambry. This period is so important to the development of Roland as the last gunslinger. This is the time when he earns his guns andbecomes a man.
* The look and feel of the series will probably be along the lines of Marvel's Ultimate line, with thicker cover and glossy paper. The price will be in line with Marvel's other titles.
* Marvel will do multiple miniseries and hard cover collections based on The Dark Tower. There will be more after this first six-issue mini-series.
The UK edition of Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance, Volume II is now shipping from Amazon.co.uk. This is the only hardback edition of this title. You can reserve your copy here.
The Marvel issue is now solved. Here is a part from the press release:
The comic series will mark the first time Stephen King has produced original content for an ongoing comic book project. The series will expand the saga of King's epic hero, Roland Deschain, whose quest to save the Dark Tower is captured in seven best-selling novels published over the course of twenty-five years. King's unparalleled storytelling power will inform new stories that delve into the life and times of the young Roland, revealing the trials and conflicts that lead to the burden of destiny he must assume as a man, the last Gunslinger from a world that has moved on. The comics will work in conjunction with the novels, further supplementing and defining the saga's mythology under the direction of the acclaimed author himself.
There will be 6 issues. One issue each month starting in April 2006. The at Christmas next year all 6 parts will be released together in a hardback edition.
PN Online reported the following today:
Horror King's graphic novel
STEPHEN KING IS writing a graphic novel for Marvel Comics. Illustrated by Jae Lee, well-known American illustrator of comic books, it will form the eighth volume in King’s Dark Tower series, published by Simon & Schuster in the States and Hodder in the UK. Marvel is distributed worldwide by Diamond Book Distributors and publication is scheduled for next autumn.
Publishers Weekly reported the following:
Publisher Weekly is also reporting that Stephen King will bring the Dark Tower series to Marvel. In a recent article, Publisher Weekly wrote:
"In a move that can only continue to elevate the literary and commercial cachet of the graphic novel format, sources say that bestselling novelist Stephen King has agreed to write a new installment of his Dark Tower series as a graphic novel to be published in 2006.
"A spokesperson for Marvel Comics, which will announce the deal on Friday, confirmed that they will publish a King work, although they didn't disclose details. Marvel was dropping hints about a possible King book at this year's Comic-con in July. Sources say that the new Dark Tower installment will be published first as a comic book periodical beginning in April and later released as a Marvel hardcover in the fall of 2006. The artist on the book will be veteran comics illustrator Jae Lee and the colorist is Richard Isanove, who won a recent Quill Award for his work on Marvel's 1602."
To add a little more proof to the fire, we went to Jae Lee, asking him if the rumors had any merit. He would not comment on the subject.
Marvel then later gave the following statement:
When asked to comment on the report, a Marvel spokesman said, "Marvel will be releasing the correct info of what 'King' is on Friday."
Thanks to IGN, Rocky Wood, Ariel, David Blais and Nick Bolanos.
1408 is back. As I reported some years ago it was supposed to be done by Eli Roth, but he is now out of the project and this is a new script, new director but the same film studio:
Dimension Enters King's '1408'
Dimension has set helmer Mikael Hafstrom and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura for a horror movie based on Stephen King's short story "1408." The script by Matt Greenberg is being rewritten by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
The story revolves around a man specializing in debunking paranormal occurrences who meets his match when he checks into the notorious room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. There he encounters true terror.
The short story appeared in the King audio book Blood and Smoke and later in the King anthology Everything's Eventual, published in 2002.
Alexander and Karaszewski together have scripted such films as The People vs. Larry Flynt and Ed Wood.
It's now confirmed that will be the fourth known episode in Nightmares and Dreamscapes:
Nightmares and Dreamscapes is going to be a series that will be airing on the TNT network. This series is based off the book by Stephen King and is sure to be a hit. The series is planned to run starting sometime in 2006 with the first episode being called "You know that got a Hell of a Band". In this series you will see some merchandise that was purchased from us. This includes a Crosley select o matic and a reproduction old time telephone. We here at BarsandBooths.com are big Stephen King fans and look forward to seeing our merchandise in this series. Thanks for choosing us for you retro needs!
Hodder & Stoughton will release a UK edition of the new illustrated Salem's Lot. It's out on April 10, 2006 but you can pre-order today.
The South Park episode that aired yesterday incorporated part of a Pet Semetary narrative. They should be replaying it all week on Comedy Central. However, for more info about the episode, see here.
Of the 8 episodes in the Nightmares & Dreamscapes TV series we know the title of 3. They are Umney's Last Case, Battleground and Home Delivery. There are also guesses that You Know They Have a Hell of a Band will be included. Rumors have it that Steven Weber and Kim Delaney (NYPD Blue) will star in the later.
The same source from IMDB.com says that the first episode will air on TNT on June 15, 2006. This is NOT confirmed yet though.
Rebecca Gibney joins the cast (Harold Hopkins, William H.Macy, Sigrid Thornton, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Anderson and Henry Thomas) for King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes TV series. Rebecca Gibney returns to King
Posted by Clint Morris on October 21, 2005
Rebecca Gibney doesn’t exactly have “Salem’s Lot” in big, black, bold letters on her resume – does anyone? - so it is a bolt from the blue to hear she’s on-board another Stephen King series. But work’s work, right?
The gorgeous Gibney, best known for her role in the Aussie series’ and telemovies’ “The Flying Doctors”, “Come in Spinner” and “Halifax F.P”, has joined the cast of the eight-part telemovie series “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” co-starring Harold Hopkins, William H.Macy, Sigrid Thornton, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Anderson and Henry Thomas. The series films here in Melbourne until Feb 2006.
Gibney will also be seen in the new film “Lost and Found”, about an Award-winning architect that’s facing a glittering future as long as he can come to terms with his traumatic past. Brett Climo co-stars.
Stephen King's Gotham Café is screening in several cities in North America this week.
* The Bethel Film Festival on Friday, October 28th and Saturday, October 29th in Bethel, CT. (http://www.bethelfilmfestival.com/whatsshowing.html)
* As part of the Rhode Island International Film Festival on Saturday, October 29th in Providence, RI. (http://www.film-festival.org/HorrorSched05.php)
* The Cinemuerte Film Festival on Sunday, October 30th in Vancouver, Canada. (http://www.cinemuerte.com/horror-film-festival/index.html)
This message was posted on King's message board today:
There is now an anticipated release schedule of January (rather than Feb.) for Cell and Oct. (rather than Nov.) for Lisey’s Story.
There where a request on King's message board for more info about the book to come after Lisey's Story and the reply was:
Probably not for a while--possibly not until next spring depending upon when Stephen is ready to let info out. It will not be out until after Lisey's Story which will be fall of '06, after Cell's release.
* Stephen is reading The Mad Cook of Pymatuning by Christopher Lehman-Haupt (Great) and To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas (Good).
* He is listening to Drunken Lullabies, by Flogging Molly (Excellent).
* His movie pick of the week is In Her Shoes, Directed by Curtis Hanson (Real Good).
Here is a description of the special holiday episode of The Dead Zone:
When female psychic Alex Sinclair (returning guest star Jennifer Finnigan) pays Johnny a surprise Christmas visit, the two work together to solve the mystery of one very lost and confused Santa. Sharing disturbing and contradictory visions of their Santa's life, Alex and Johnny wonder who this strange old man in a track suit and Santa hat really is. As their investigation unfolds, they become involved with three young street kids who are equally lost, and who wind up joining everyone back at Johnny's for the best - albeit strangest - Christmas any of them can remember.
Here are a bit more info about the desktop calendar for 2006 SK Library/BOMC has produced. It's a hardcover, fairly large, and is chock full of trivia, information, quotes and excerpts.
Leef Peepers, King's essay about tourists exploring the fall colors, is reprinted in its entirety, as is the short story My Pretty Pony. Snippets from On Writing and other King commentaries, plus reviews, bloopers, lists (beers, cars, etc.).
John Mellencamp talks The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.
Most pressing, however, are plans to finish his collaboration with King for the musical drama, "The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County."
"You can't believe the s-- we're going through, dealing with everything," Mellencamp said. "The same guys who did (the Monty Python-influenced) 'Spamalot' are involved now and hopefully it's going to become less hectic. This is not like painting. Now there's like 40,000 people involved."
Death and reconciliation are major themes in the King-Mellencamp collaboration. As he explained to Billboard recently, King's story involves two young men, brothers, who dislike each other immensely. Their father takes them to their family vacation cabin, where, a generation before them, the father's two older brothers killed each other in a similar sibling rivalry.
"There's a confederacy of ghosts who also live in this house," Mellencamp told Billboard. "The older (dead) brothers are there, and they speak to the audience, and they sing to the audience. That's all I want to say, except through this family vacation, many things are learned about the family, and many interesting songs are sung."
Several months ago during an interview at his Brown County recording studio, Mellencamp excitedly played a couple of the songs from the show.
"Some of the songs were written four or five years ago. I was shooting in the dark then. Now I know exactly where we're going and I've got a lot of work in front of me."
Veteran Australian actor Harold Hopkins, known for his roles in such classics as “The Club”, “Gallipoli” and “Brides of Christ”, has joined the cast of Nightmares and Dreamscapes, the new Stephen King telemovie series, being filmed in Melbourne. He co-stars with William H.Macy. Brian Henson and Stacy Title direct the pic, which was written for TV by Mick Garris
It seems that the film festival to be in October is Rhode Island International Film Festival. According to their program they will show a whole bunch of Stephen King short films. Some unknown (at least to me) until now. Here is the list:
Gotham Cafe (15 min)
Rats (5 min)
We all Fall Down (15 min)
Home Delivery (11 min)
Road Virus Heads North (14 min)
Blood Jacker (? min)
Here us King's two paragraphs of the story The Furnace. You can help him finish it here.
Thanks to Rocky Wood.
King is on the cover of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (December 2005), which is already on some newsstands. King is quoted on the cover in response to "What They Say About Queen" along with Janet Maslin, Edward D. Hoch and John Updike. Unfortunately, there is nothing inside the issue by or about King, just the cover. The Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine website has not yet been updated with information regarding the new issue.
There is a new King 'story' around. It is the first two paragraphs of a story for Teens to complete. It's called The Furnace and appears in Know Your Own World for October 2005. A sister magazine carries an interview and a small excerpt from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and excerpt from On Writing and some other King stuff.
According to Rocky it's been confirmed that King will NOT be finishing the story. More info to come...
Now you can check out my review of season 4 of The Dead Zone.
The Road Virus Heads North is playing in Screamfest LA 2005 this Saturday, Oct. 15 at Universal Studios (12:00pm), and it'll be opening the world premiere of Tobe Hooper's new film "Mortuary" next Thursday, Oct. 20 at the NYC Horror Film Festival at Tribeca Cinemas (10:30pm).
It's also playing at the Rhode Island International Film Festival the week after, but I haven't received a screening date yet.
Stephen's Picks is a new weekly feature on his official site. Here are his picks for the week of October 10, 2005:
* Stephen is reading The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.
* He is listening to King of the New York Streets by Dion.
* His movie pick of the week is Serenity - he loved it.
This continuity clarification if from King himself and was published on his official site:
"The review of The Colorado Kid in today's issue of USA Today mentions that there was no Starbucks in Denver in 1980. Don't assume that's a mistake on my part. The constant readers of the Dark Tower series may realize that that is not necessarily a continuity error, but a clue."
Thanks to Miss X.
Lighthouse Media One is currently compiling their third and final Stephen King Special - Lighthouse VI. They still have a few places open for essays/non-fiction articles on King, but these would need to be submitted within the next two weeks to lmo1@blueyonder.co.uk
Once again King's moderator on the official message board has confirmed that King knows what he will do after Lisey's Story. Here is what she answered to the question of if King knows what he will do after Lisey's Story:
Yes, he already knows what he plans to write after those are edited.
She also mentioned that Lunch At Gotham Cafe has been optioned for a theater release.
My review of the CD from SCarrie: The Musical is now online.
If you want your own copy of the SCarrie CD you can get it here.
According to Simon & Schuster's website Cell will be 384 pages long and on 10 CDs and 8 cassettes. Please note though that this is estimated numbers, not confirmed numbers.