Stephen King on the Big Screen

The Shining. Carrie. Misery. These are just a few of the film adaptations that have been made from the terrifying and eerie work of novelist and short story writer Stephen King. It is nearly impossible to think of another author who has inspired so many, and such diverse filmmakers—yet there has never before been a work by a film specialist that focused solely on Stephen King. Mark Browning, in Stephen King on the Big Screen, takes a film-by-film approach to exploring why some adaptations of King’s work are more successful than others.              Browning discusses every single film adaptation given a global cinematic release—including films by such well-known directors as Stanley Kubrick, George A. Romero, and David Cronenberg. His is the first book to consider in detail Sleepwalkers, Dreamcatcher, and 1408 as well as the much-neglected portmanteau films and touchstones like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. In a highly readable and engaging style, Browning examines how different film directors have interpreted and translated the original literary texts into a new medium. Throughout, he reveals the elements of style and approach that have helped make King one of the world’s best-selling authors.              This entertaining and accessible guide to the complete corpus of Stephen King films is a must-have for fans of his fiction and of the many directors who have sought to capture his macabre stories and bizarre characters in cinematic form. (20090721)