The masterful horror author Stephen King is a king, in his own right, of film and television adaptations. His litany of novels and short stories has inspired a mammoth list of features over the years, and Apple TV Plus is about to air a series based on one of King’s more personal stories.
Lisey’s Story will present King’s 2006 novel of the same name with Julianne Moore playing the titular role. Lisey is the widow of the famous author Scott Landon - played by Moore’s Children of Men co-star Clive Owen - who must explore her own grief as well as the extraordinary discovery her husband left behind: a doorway to another dimension. King’s signature themes of the thriller and supernatural kind will weave through Lisey’s Story too, and some of the source material was even inspired by King’s own experiences with his wife and fellow writer Tabitha.
Vanity Fair recently provided a first look at the series, showcasing Moore within ethereal settings, more intimate images with Clive Owen, and other character stills with actors Ron Cephas Jones and Dane DeHaan. The latter will play an obsessive fan and stalker in the series who has a fixation on Lang. DeHaan’s Jim Dooley works with Jones’ professor Roger Dashmiel to obtain the author’s library and unpublished papers through Lisey, and is the kind of shady character King has had to deal with before. Both Stephen and Tabitha King have had their fair share of stalkers throughout their lives, and this is one example of the author’s personal reflections within Lisey’s Story - another being his 50-year marriage to Tabitha.
King has penned the script for each of the eight episodes of the series, bringing J.J. Abrams on board to produce its entirety. Abrams, in turn, hired Pablo Larraín of Jackie fame to direct, who is expected to lend his hypnotic way of filming to the show and frame Lisey’s internal journey through grief. June 4 will be the premiere date of Lisey’s Story which promises to deliver as much mystery as poignancy, and no doubt a few concepts from the master of horror will stick to your psyche.
If you’re looking for a way to link the fantastical world of Stephen King to video games, then give survival horror Perishment a try. The indie game presents the classic inescapable maze formula set in an apartment block surrounded by evil, reminiscent of King’s short story 1408.
Source: Vanity Fair