The King of Horror has another novel heading to screens. Stephen King has the most well-known best-selling horror catalog of his time, and from that springs a well of tapped and untapped screenplay potential. Many of his iconic novels have been adapted into films, such as “Carrie,” “The Shining,” and “It.” These stories have several different renditions, but it is always exciting for fans to see one of his “lesser-known” masterpieces get its time in the spotlight.
That time has come for his 1996 novel “Desperation.”
Sam Raimi and ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’ Directors Tackle ‘Desperation’
Earlier today, news broke on Bloody Disgusting that Stephen King’s “Desperation” is returning in a film with Adam B. Stein and Zach Lipovsky, “Final Destination Bloodlines” directors, set to direct, and Sam Raimi set to produce. For fans that closely follow King’s work, a team-up between horror icons Raimi and King might just be the best horror news a person could get. King and Raimi have an infamous history of supporting and admiring each other’s work. King, most notably, praised Raimi’s debut film “The Evil Dead” (1981), and Raimi, in return, has made cameo appearances in some of King’s television adaptations.
In the past, Raimi has even credited King with aiding in his horror success, stating, “[Stephen King] gave me my chance in the business. When Evil Dead was trying to be sold as a, you know, a 16 millimeter blow up in the Cannes Film Market – not the festival, but the market is the shady dealings going on underneath the prestigious film festival, where buyers from Spain or Italy will buy an inexpensive American film and the marketers know, ‘Oh, Italy will have 200 theaters that will play this kind of film.’ And they know it’s worth, and they make deals. They sell it. Well, nobody would touch Evil Dead with a ten-foot plague pole.”
What We Know About ‘Desperation’
GettyStephen King’s 1996 novel, “Desperation,” follows a group of travelers who, while journeying through Nevada, come across a cursed town where miners have accidentally released a horrific interdimensional creature, Tak. The group falls prey to a possessed police officer, Collie Entragian, and must work together to defeat an ancient evil, led by a young boy who can talk to God. Stephen King also released a “mirror novel,” “The Regulators,” at the same time as “Desperation,” which features the same characters, but in a parallel universe.
Other than the general outline of the plot from the novel itself, not much about the upcoming “Desperation” film has been revealed, not even the cast. We have heard, however, that the film is attached to Searchlight Pictures. The original report on this story came from an exclusive by The InSneider, and while none of the creatives or Searchlight Pictures have confirmed this report, fans are hopeful that the film will be officially announced soon!
In 2006, “Desperation” was also turned into a TV screenplay starring Steven Weber, Ron Perlman, and Tom Skerritt. It was directed by Mick Garris and written by Stephen King.
