Stephen King’s The Mist Being Developed For Television
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- September 17, 2015
- Danny F. Santos
Television is becoming an interesting place for adaptations. Two of the biggest shows on TV right now are based on a book series and a comic book series, namely: Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.
Now The Wrap is reporting that Stephen King’s novella, The Mist, is currently being developed for the small screen by Dimension Television and writer Christia Torpe. The story has already been adapted as a feature film by Frank Darabont back in 2007, and the latest King novel to be adapted for television (The Dome) didn’t exactly work out well for television, and has been canceled.
So the question is, will a new version of The Mist work? Co-chairman of The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films, Bob Weinstein, thinks so:
The terror and drama in Stephen King‘s novella are so vast that we felt serialized television is the best place to explore them in greater depth. With this show, Christian has created a fascinating band of characters and a story with infinite scares.
According to the report, the series will use the film and novella as a starting point, where a small town is shrouded in mist which conceals creatures that terrorize the inhabitants.
Sounds simple enough, and there’s not really too much to the story other than a simple escape, but the end of the novella and the film were fairly different. In the novella, it was uncertain whether the characters would escape the mist, while the film, well, it didn’t pull any punches and was quite gut-wrenching.
Personally, the more I think about it, the more excited I get about the possibility. The novella and film both had a military operation called The Arrowhead Project, which was rumored to open a doorway to another dimension. That in itself opens up a wide range of stories to explore.
There’s also the religious zealot named Mrs. Carmody, who convinces people that the world is coming to an end, as was prophesied in the bible. I think this character could be pushed back to a later season, and have the first season be about survival. Those two plot threads can actually lead to a very interesting idea that the doorway could lead to hell, and it gives the series an ultimate goal: To close the door.
What we could end up with is the next The Walking Dead, without all the wheel-spinning if pulled off well.
There’s still no channel or streaming service attached to the production, but at least Stephen King has given his blessing to the production. Stay tuned for more news on The Mist TV series.
Image: Dimension Films
