NEWS -

Pop of King: A Kingdom that didn't Come

Posted: July 3, 2004, 00:00

There is a new Pop of King Column in Entertainment Weekly this week. It's in the July 9 issue (#773) with Michael Moore on the cover. As the title, A Kingdom that didn't Come, suggests, King explains why Kingdom Hospital didn't go over so well with viewers.

Thanks to CRinVA and JReitan47.

Kingdom Hospital DVD and finale

Posted: July 1, 2004, 00:00

Here is a better look at how the region 2 Kingdom Hospital DVD will look like. It's being released on August 2, 2004. You order it from Amazon.co.uk here.

ABC has rescheduled Kingdom Hospital's two-hour finale for Thursday, July 15 at 8:00/7:00c instead of 9:00/8:00c.

Building Bridges

Posted: June 30, 2004, 00:00

The earlier untitled CD with King's National Book Foundation Speech has now gotten a title. It is Building Bridges: Stephen King Live at the National Book Awards and the CD, that is 30 minutes long, is being released in August.

In other audio news. Sissy Spacek, the original Carrie in the film, will read the audiobook! The audio is released in February 2005.

Now you can order Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season from Amazon.co.uk.

Desperation starts filming in September

Posted: June 28, 2004, 23:42

I spoke to Mick Garris today and he told me that he will start shooting Desperation, which has gotten its official green light, for ABC in September. He continued by saying that the casting director starts working today, so there is no cast yet. The script however is written by King and finished and it will all result in a three-hour movie for ABC, not a miniseries.

Kingdom Hospital DVD cover

Posted: June 28, 2004, 00:00

Here is the cover for the upcoming Kingdom Hospital DVD.

A deluxe edition of The Shawshank Redemption is being released on DVD on 5th October 2004.

Thanks to David Sjödin and Terry Warrick.

The Talisman director Ed Zwick is dropping out of the project.

Posted: June 24, 2004, 23:23

"Variety says that just one month after director Ed Zwick replaced Vadim Perelman on DreamWorks' mystical The Talisman, he, too, is dropping out of the project. The problem was that the film wasn't creatively together in time for the start date. Shooting was originally slated to start in July, then September, then October.

The script, in particular, was a sticking point, adds the trade. Adapted by Ehren Kruger from Stephen King and Peter Straub's novel, the screenplay was reworked by Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro, but rewriting continues.

Steven Spielberg secured rights to the book, about a young man's journey to find a talisman that will save his mother's life, in the 1980s. The October shoot date has been cancelled and no other start date has been set. It was to be released in theaters next year."

Thanks to Rocky Wood, David Sjödin and John Flynn.

Interview with Michael Whelan

Posted: June 23, 2004, 00:00

I have done an interview with Michael Whelan who has illustrated The Dark Tower VII (which is less then 3 month away). In the interview he talks about illustrating King books, the difference between illustrating the first and the last book in the series among other things. A very interesting interview.

Here are two images from The Dark Tower VII. The one with Roland on is the endpaper and the other one is an illustration from in the book.

And here is the full cover of The Dark Tower VII without the text.

Apparently Grant is proof reading The Dark Tower VII now and they guess that the final page count is looking to be around 864 pages or so.

King working on a new novel

Posted: June 20, 2004, 00:00

In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (the one with Christian Bale on the cover), is a small article about Song of Susannah. The article also mentions that along with the upcoming baseball book, King is also working on a new novel, and says that he's not sure how it's going, but since he "retired" the pressure is off of him. How about that?

Thanks to Joseph Altomere.

All that you love x3

Posted: June 19, 2004, 00:00

It seems there are no less then 3 Dollar Babies in the making (or done) based on King's short story All That You Love Will Be Carried Away.

One is by James Renner and this one I have already told you about. Now it has come to my attention that there is also one done by Scott Albanese. You can soon read more about this one at http://www.allthatyoulove.com.

Then there is a third with the title The Secret Transit Codes of America's Highways (see image) by Brian Berkowitz.

Thanks to Scott Albanese.

Song of Susannah s/l

Posted: June 17, 2004, 00:00

Here are some pictures of the Signed/Limited of Song of Susannah. This edition has a slightly different dustjacket artwork than the Artist Edition. The S/L has the three pictures from the back of the Artist edition, but they're pushed to the left and compacted to take up only half of the picture. The right half is a picture of two of the towers from the fortress with a moon in the background surrounded by clouds. The actual book covers themselves have white boards (just like all of the others) and in the middle of the front board there's a picture of either the fortress or the Dark Tower (I couldn't really tell which) stamped on in black.

Check the Song of Susannah page for more images.

Kingdom Hospital DVD

Posted: June 10, 2004, 00:00

Both Amazon.co.uk and Columbia Tri-Star Home Video in the UK report that there will be a region 2 DVD of Kingdom Hospital released on August 2, less then 2 month from now. The box will have 4 discs.

You can pre-order it here. Remember though that this is the region 2 DVD. The region 1 DVD is still scheduled for October as far as I know.

Interview with King

Posted: June 9, 2004, 00:00

A new interview with King can be found in USA Today. There are severe spoilers for Song of Susannah so be careful.

Thanks to Rocky Wood.

Anthony Michael Hall (Johnny Smith), John L. Adams (Bruce Lewis) or Chris Bruno (Sheriff Walt Bannerman) of The Dead Zone will be appearing tomorrow, Thursday, June 10, at the new Gateway Center Best Buy store on La Brea Avenue just south of Santa Monica Boulevard. The 3 actors will be doing a DVD signing from 3 to 5 PM.

Song of Susannah released

Posted: June 8, 2004, 00:00

Today Song of Susannah is released.

Also released today is the DVD box with season 2 of The Dead Zone. You can get that one here: Amazon.com

Anthony Michael Hall will be on the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show on June 11th/June12th at 12:36AM (start times vary) to promote the new season of The Dead Zone. Its on channel 7 [WJLA].

Riding the Bullet images

Posted: June 7, 2004, 00:00

Here are some images from the upcoming film version of Riding the Bullet.

David Arquette plays George Staub and Jonathan Jackson Alan Parker.

The Moderator of King's official site says that she believe King has done a commentary for the DVD edition of Kingdom Hospital.

Yesterday was the premier of season 3 of The Dead Zone. On the official site you can now get all the info about episode 1.

CD/DVD/CD-ROM news

Posted: June 4, 2004, 00:00

Simon & Schuster Audio will release King's National Book Foundation Speech on Compact Disk. The CD is still untitled but it will be release in August 2004 and cost $12.00.

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly (#769, June 11, 2004 with Harry Potter on the cover) contains a new Pop of King column titled Lines To Live By in which King discusses famous movie lines.

Thanks to Jonathan Reitan.

Retail sources are confirming the planned October timeframe for the release of Kingdom Hospital on DVD. No specific date has been made available yet though. They were told, however, to expect the video format to be in widescreen, that it would be a multi disc set of "the entire mini-series", in an elaborate package and at an eye-catching price.

The CD-ROM version of Stephen King Collectables may be manufactured on DVD. This way it could contain six times the storage capacity of the CD-ROM. Read more at George Beahm's site.

There is now an interview with Anthony Michael Hall from The Dead Zone up at Ain't It Cool News.

New covers

Posted: June 2, 2004, 00:00

Some new covers where released today. To the right are the US and UK edition of Stephen King's The Dark Tower Concordance vol. 2 as well as the UK trade paperback of Wolves of the Calla and the galley of The Road to The Dark Tower.

Reviews and more

Posted: June 1, 2004, 00:00

Here are my reviews of Song of Susannah (that will hit bookstores on June 8) and the remake of 'Salem's Lot.

Jerad over at Centipede Press has recently announced that the new Signed/Limited of Salem's Lot is now officially SOLD OUT. He also says that he will continue to take names to add to the waiting list of those who cancel or default on their orders.

Thanks to Thomas K.

On Oct. 1-16 Misery will be preformed on stage in Cincinnatiarts. Read more at Cincinnatiarts.com and get your tickets here.

Thanks to Rocky Wood.

The Talisman pushed back.

Posted: May 27, 2004, 23:22

Filming of The Talisman has been pushed back to September. This is because of the rewrite Ed Zwick is currently doing on the script. The new shooting dates are September 13th to December 7th 2004.

Thanks to Anders and David Sjödin.

Full Susannah sleeve and remake of IT details

Posted: May 19, 2004, 00:00

Yesterday I got a copy of the finished UK edition of Song of Susannah (you can see the cover above) and after watching the illustrations I can only say Wow. They are a bit different from earlier once but they sure are nice!

The cover for the artist edition of Song of Susannah and a screensaver has been released.

The remake of IT will be done from Beverly Marsh's point of view acording to Peter Filardi.

Bev Vincent, Julie Sands and Peter Schink have written the script for a Dollar Baby version of King's story Lunch at the Gotham Cafe. They are calling it just Gotham Cafe though to make it a little flashier. Here are the (present) cast:

Steve: Ingo Rademacher
Diane: Julie Sands
Guy: Cullen Douglas
Humboldt: Charles Carroll

Director: Peter Schink
Script: Bev Vincent, Julie Sands and Peter Schink

According to AdWeek, ABC has not officially announced that Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital will not be back for a new season.

Now you can see the Dollar Baby The Last Rung on the Ladder online.

Salem's Lot remake and limited edition

Posted: May 18, 2004, 00:00

A 30 second teaser for the remake of Salem's Lot is now up on TNT's site. There is also a lot of additional info on the site.

Brian Freeman will run an exclusive interview with Jerad Walters of Centipede Press in this week's CD Weekly Newsletter. Jerad Walters is the man behind the new limited edition of Salem's Lot.

The King's lined up as judges

Posted: May 17, 2004, 00:00

The first part of Song of Susannah called 1st Stanza: Beamquake is now online.

LEWISTON (AP) -- High school juniors in Maine looking to make their names as writers will have a chance to get their work read by some of the state's better-known authors.

Novelists Stephen King, Tabitha King and Richard Russo are lined up to serve as judges in a new contest spearheaded by the Maine Community College System.

Gov. Baldacci is set to announce the contest details on Monday.

Stephen King made plans two years ago to teach writing to Maine middle schoolers through the state's laptop program. But last year he said he was too busy to make good on the offer.

Thanks to Rocky Wood.

The Talisman starts shooting in July

Posted: May 15, 2004, 23:21

The Talisman start shooting in July. It will be shoot in Vancouver and Ain't it Cool News has a link to the BC Film Commission's PDF filiming schedules (see image) where it's listed.

Thanks to David Sjödin.

Limited edition of 'Salem's Lot

Posted: May 15, 2004, 00:00

A limited edition of 'Salem's Lot is being published through Centipede Press this Halloween. It will include the original novel and two related short stories: Jerusalem's Lot and One for the Road as well as Stephen's introduction from the Pocket Books edition and over 50 pages of deleted scenes from the original manuscript which have never before been published. This limited edition of 300 copies will be available in October. Orders are currently being taken here. The price for this book is $470 or $950 for the deluxe.

Thanks to Thomas Teigen.

The May 21 (#766) issue of Entertainment Weekly, with "Reality TV Nation, Why we love it! Hate it!" on the cover, contains the new Pop of King column by King titled It's Alive! Alive! where King discusses three great books he's read lately.

Thanks to Jonathan Reitan.

The last four episodes of Kingdom Hospital have been pushed forward to June 24.

New book: Faithful

Posted: May 11, 2004, 00:00

King and Stewart O'Nan book about The Red Sox now has a title. It's Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season.

The book will be released in December 2004 and have 384 pages. You should probably not take the page count to seriously since the book isn't done yet. It will also be out as an unabridged audio book, no reader has been confirmed yet though.

Amazon.co.uk now has a synopsis for The Dark Tower VII but as usual you read it at you own risk.

Kristen Dalton's character (Dana Bright) won't appear in season 3 of The Dead Zone. The reason is budget constraints, but the producers have not ruled out using her character in future episodes.

Ed Zwick takes over The Talisman

Posted: May 9, 2004, 23:19

Aint It Cool News reports that Ed Zwick has taken over the director's chair for The Talisman after Vadim Perelman. They also have a review of Ehren Kruger's adaptation dated July 13th, 2003.

Thanks to David Sjödin.

First look: The Road Virus Heads North

Posted: May 9, 2004, 00:00

Check out the first image and the poster from The Road Virus Heads North.

Ed Zwick has taken over the director's chair for The Talisman.

Casting for The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Posted: May 7, 2004, 23:21

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon has gotten it's leading lady. Dakota Fanning, already a screen veteran with the likes of TAKEN and the current actioner MAN ON FIRE under her belt, will play the title role, and Laura Dern will also be part of the cast. Read more here.

Thanks to Jonathan Reitan.

Salem's Lot writer working on It

Posted: May 7, 2004, 00:00

TNT has released all the airdates (including re-runs) for Salem's Lot.

In the press material for Salem's Lot from TNT they state that Peter Filardi (writer) currently is working on a remake of IT for Warner...

Thanks to Creature Corner.

Perelman leaving The Talisman...

Posted: May 3, 2004, 23:18

Vadim Perelman is leaving The Talisman.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Dollar Baby: The Road Virus Heads North

Posted: May 1, 2004, 00:00

A new Dollar Baby is now in the making. This time it's The Road Virus Heads North.

Kingdom Hospital premiers in the UK on BBC Three tomorrow night at 10pm, check out the BBC mini site.

Thanks to UK SKEMERs.

According to King's message board, the show is on break until May 20th. It's best to keep an eye on the schedule in case that changes. ABC's info to King's office hasn't been completely accurate up to now...

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

He wrote The Journals of Eleanor Druse

Posted: April 29, 2004, 00:00

It has now been revealed on King's official site who wrote The Journals of Eleanor Druse: My Investigation of the Kingdom Hospital Incident. Here is what's said in the Kingdom Hospital FAQ:

Who wrote The Journals of Eleanor Druse?

It was written by author, Rick Dooling, who also wrote episodes 6, 7, 8 and 11 as well as co-writing episode 5 of Kingdom Hospital. Rick also served as a technical advisor and producer for the series. He is the author of White Man's Grave and Brain Storm.

There you have it, the secret is out.

Popup cover and more

Posted: April 20, 2004, 00:00

Here is the cover for the pop-up edition of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

King's official site has set up an FAQ about Kingdom Hospital.

A new Dollar Baby is in the making, this time it's All That You Love Will Be Carried Away.

I have 8 new promo shoots from Salem's Lot, including what will become the poster art.

Here is the cover of the UK ARC of Song of Susannah.

King has a new column out in Entertainment Weekly. It's called Pop of King: Head-Bangor's Ball and can be found in issue #762/763 with Spiderman on the cover.

Thanks to Jonathan Reitan.

Dolan to starts shooting in June

Posted: April 19, 2004, 20:57

According to USA Today Dolan's Cadillac starts shooting in June.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Pictures from The Man Who Loved Flowers

Posted: April 13, 2004, 13:14

Here are two preproduction photos from The Man Who Loved Flowers. There is also an interview with its maker, Justin Zimmerman, online.

Movie and stage news

Posted: April 13, 2004, 00:00

Here are two preproduction photos from The Man Who Loved Flowers. There is also an interview with its maker, Justin Zimmerman, online.

The Dollar Baby Here there be Tygers has now been released on the net.

Misery is on stage in Chicago from 7-11 July.

Thanks to Rocky Wood

Interview with Marsha DeFilippo

Posted: April 12, 2004, 00:00

I'm sure all of you have seen her name in different articles where she has commented on different issues regarding Stephen King but who is really Marsha DeFilippo, King's personal assistant? Well, I thought it was about time to find out so when I got the chance to talk to her I took it. Here is what she had to say.

The Talisman is set to start shooting in August.

Posted: April 10, 2004, 23:17

The Talisman is set to start shooting in August. Here are some info from yesterday's LA Times:

AT LONG LAST: After 20 some years in development hell, Stephen King's "The Talisman" is finally set to start shooting in August. Now the search is on for the crucial lead character, a young boy named Jack who travels to a parallel universe known as the Territories to find the talisman that will save his dying mother.

Universal originally bought the rights to King's novel for Steven Spielberg, who first became enamored with the project in 1984. When Spielberg's interest in directing the project waned, it stayed in limbo for several years until he and producer Kathleen Kennedy resurrected "The Talisman" as a miniseries for ABC, but it stalled.

Now the third time seems to be the charm for "The Talisman." Spielberg's DreamWorks is producing the project. Vadim Perelman, who helmed the company's recent Ben Kingsley starrer "House of Sand and Fog" is on board to direct. The good thing about the length of time it's taken to bring the popular novel to life is that in the interim, King and co-writer Peter Straub wrote a best-selling follow-up to the first tome called "Black House," which will make a perfect big-screen sequel to "The Talisman."

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Sly and Bacon out and Byrne and Prinze JR in

Posted: April 10, 2004, 20:55

There have been some changes in the casting of Dolan's Cadillac. Kevin Bacon and Sylvester Stallone are out and Gabriel Byrne will play Dolan and Freddie Prinze JR plays Robinson. Freddie Prinze JR confirmed this at the premiere of Scooby Doo 2 in London.

Thanks to endymion.

Mick Garris moving ahead with Desperation

Posted: April 9, 2004, 23:39

Creature Corner reports that Mick Garris is moving ahead with Desperation.

Garris told Creature Corner "We're working from King's feature script. "Though I'm putting it into the television 'acts' format. But very little is being changed."

Thanks to Mike Cahill.

Book news

Posted: April 9, 2004, 00:00

Here is all the available info about the pop-up edition of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and yes King will sign it.

Stephen King's The Dark Tower Concordance vol. 2 will be 320 pages long.

A new article that has quotes from Stewart O'Nan about the upcoming book about The Red Sox is now online. He talks about the format of the book more, and how they came up with the idea.

Thanks to Matt Neal.

Unfortunately there will be no second season of Kingdom Hospital.

Kingdom Hospital moves and a review

Posted: April 4, 2004, 00:00

Here is King's comment to ABC's move of Kingdom Hospital:

Dear Kingdom Hospital Viewers,
ABC may understand what they are doing with the schedule for Kingdom Hospital; I do not. All I can tell you for sure is that we will be telecasting new episodes 6-13 starting next Thursday, April 8th at 9 E/PT, 8 CT (check your local listings).

Best wishes,
Stephen King
Posted 2 April 2004

Here is my review of The Devil's Wine.

Audio cameo and more

Posted: April 2, 2004, 00:00

King will make an audio appearance in episode 6 of Kingdom Hospital, which airs this coming Thursday in its new time slot. This audio appearance is separate and different than the cameo where he will appear in person later in the series.

Here are the titles of the last episodes:

#6 is THE YOUNG AND THE HEADLESS
#7 is BLACK NOISE
#8 is HEARTLESS
#9 is BUTTERFINGERS
#10 is ON THE THIRD DAY
#11 is SEIZURE DAY
#12 is SHOULDA STOOD IN BED
#13 is FINALE (2 hours)

King's column, Pop of King, returns in the April 9, 2004 (#759 with Bart Simpson on the cover) issue of Entertainment Weekly. In this one, titled Enquiring Minds, King explains why America is obsessed with celebrity affairs in National Enquirer magazine.

Thanks to Jonathan Reitan.

Michael Connelly's Award winning novel The Poet is now available in a Limited Edition with a new introduction by Stephen King. Read more here.

Thanks to Jonathan Reitan.

King is collected in Larry King's new book Remember Me When I Gone. It is what he would have written on his epitaph and also contains a sketch by King. Very short contribution though, only 1 or 2 lines. You can order it here.

Thanks to Brent Phillips.

Details about the Secret Window's DVD is now out. The DVD extra will include an audio commentary with director/screenwriter David Koepp, a collection of deleted scenes, CG storyboard animatics, a behind-the-scenes featurette and a few special effects featurettes. It will be released later this summer.

Thanks to DavisDVD.

Here is all you need if you're taking a vacation in Bangor, Maine.

Thanks to Brent.

The Dark Tower VII spoilers and more

Posted: April 1, 2004, 00:00

I have gotten some interesting descriptions on the plot of The Dark Tower VII but as usual there are BIG spoilers in them. Therefore you need to first click here and then on the images to read more, but be warned...

I have also found some info about the pop-up edition of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (October) and Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance volume 2 (by Robin Furth) (November).

Cemetery Dance will release a limited edition of Bev Vincent's book The Road to The Dark Tower later this year. Here is what King had to say about it:

"Wonderful... opens doors to Roland's world that not even I knew existed. If you like the Dark Tower books, you'll like this one. Enthusiastically recommended." -- Stephen King

Grant's flyer for Song of Susannah

Posted: March 31, 2004, 00:00

Here is Grant's flyer for Song of Susannah.

Now you can order Grant's editions of Song of Susannah. I have also gotten a list of the contents of the book from one of the people who have received an ARC of the book. As usual you read at your own risk...there may be spoilers.

Territories discount

Posted: March 30, 2004, 00:00

Kingdom Hospital has moved from Wednesdays to Thursdays starting this week. That actually means we will get the same episode twice this week. Hook's Kingdom will first air on Wednesday March 31st and then REBROADCAST on Thursday April 1st. After that it's Thursdays that is Kingdom day!

Now I'm happy to be able to give all you loyal readers the chance to order the Dark Tower inspired CD Territories at a 25% discount. You only pay $9.95 instead of $12.95. The offer is valid between March 30 and April 15 2004. Don't forget to check out my review of the CD.

The remake of Salem's Lot will air on June 20 and June 21 2004 on TNT.

Kingdom Hospital: Hook's Kingdom

Posted: March 25, 2004, 00:00

's Kingdom (airs on March 31):

The psychic Mrs. Druse is called to assist when the trapped evil spirit of a tortured teenaged boy wreaks havoc on the staff, patients and innocent spirits inhabiting Kingdom Hospital. Meanwhile Dr. Hook forges a relationship of the mortal variety.

Now you can check out the cover for Bev Vincent's book The Road to The Dark Tower.

A description of Song of Susannah is now up at Amazon.co.uk. Read it at your own risk...

A book about baseball

Posted: March 23, 2004, 00:00

We have all asked the question. "What will be King's next book after The Dark Tower 7?" Well, guess what? It'll be a book about baseball!

To the right is a scan of the cover of Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance, Volume II. Unfortunately there isn't a bigger one available at this time...

King will be doing a cameo in Kingdom Hospital

Posted: March 20, 2004, 00:00

The moderator of King's message board has now confirmed that King will be doing a cameo in Kingdom Hospital. No specific episode was mentioned but it will air later in the season.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

An unknown poem by King has appeared on eBay. It's a poem with the title Dino that was published in Salt Hill Journal in 1994. King apparently agreed to submit the poem to the magazine as a favor to his friend, former program director and writer Stephen Dobyns. The copy that is on sale at eBay is one of approximately 5 copies signed by King as part of a benefit auction for the magazine.

Please note thought that I haven't gotten confirmation that this info is correct yet.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Donald M. Grant reports that their flyer for Song of Susannah is at the printers and soon sent out. They have also updated their website and now has images of all the different editions of Wolves of the Calla.

Thanks to Ron Glenn.

Susannah ARC and The West Side of Midnight

Posted: March 19, 2004, 00:00

OK, now it's theoretically possible to read Song of Susannah, the ARC's are starting to find their way out there. Here is the cover of the US ARC.

Here is a description of episode 4 of Kingdom Hospital:

The West Side of Midnight
Peter channels questions and messages from Kingdom Hospital's nine-year-old spiritual prisoner, Mary, through to Dr. Hook and Mrs. Druse, while his psychotic roommate begins to carry out the evil intentions of Mary's very wicked nemesis, Paul. Meanwhile, the hospital staff witnesses the resurgence of some of Kingdom Hospital's darkest, most deeply buried secrets.

UK cover for The Dark Tower VII

Posted: March 18, 2004, 00:00

Yesterday I gave you the US cover for The Dark Tower VII and I'm extremely happy to be able to show you the UK cover today. It follows the same style as the others.