A new King anthology movie: The Reaper's Image

[mae]

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/164643-mark-pavia-returning-to-stephen-king-territory

The director of the 1997 Stephen King adaptation The Night Flier, Mark Pavia, has long been absent from the horror sene. A pity, really, because his feature debut - about a journalist that tracks a vampire that uses a small private plane to hop from airport to airport feeding on humans - was impressive. This year might mark Pavia's comeback, however, as he is developing a new King-related project: An anthology horror film.

Pavia is currently scripting an all-new feature film collection of King adaptations. While we have seen our share of King television projects that have culled from the man's works, like Nightmares & Dreamscapes, if this new project does indeed get going, it will be the first King feature film anthology in over 25 years.

The filmmaker says:

"Steve chose two of the stories and I chose two — the selection a perfect mixture of classic and contemporary King, a little bit of something for his oldest and newest fans alike. It will be a true representation of his different personas, his varied styles and voices throughout the years. Everything from the horror showman at his pulpiest to his most introverted and introspective character pieces, which can also be his most frightening. Every single aspect of his personality will be represented, which as a filmmaker makes me extremely excited. Not only will the film showcase Stephen King’s many different sides, it will also showcase mine as well."

[Randall Flagg]

Thanks pablo. Now I wonder what four stories they chose.

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

The only good King anthology movie was done by "Family Guy" :)

[DanishCollector]

Hope it'll be in the style of Creepshow and Cat's Eye - these were great.

[Merlin1958]

I could see this as being very cool. Thanks, Pablo!!!

[mystima]

The only good King anthology movie was done by "Family Guy" :)

Haven't seen this one or just don't remember....will have to look it up.

[herbertwest]

According to a friend of mine that browsed the Director's Facebook page (although i didnt check) 2 of the 4 stories could be : the monkey & the reaper's image

[Stockerlone]

According to a friend of mine that browsed the Director's Facebook page (although i didnt check) 2 of the 4 stories could be : the monkey & the reaper's image

But Mr. Darabont have the filmrights from The Monkey?

[herbertwest]

That's true, i forgot that he was planning to adapt it... the same way he was planning to adapt THE LONG WALK, 2 years ago.
Dont know if he still have the rights..

[nocny]

According to a friend of mine that browsed the Director's Facebook page (although i didnt check) 2 of the 4 stories could be : the monkey & the reaper's image

I checked and Mark Pavia didn't reveal the story's titles. It's too early as he wrote.
But some time ago he wrote: "(...) writing about churning storm clouds, Derry, Maine and the Grim Reaper."

[herbertwest]

It was my understanding that he didnt reveal the titles, but that my friend was guessing those titles. I didnt go on Mark's profile though to see by myself...

[Ari_Racing]

Mark Pavia (director of The Night Flier) confirmed that the project he's working on will be called Stephen King's The Reaper's Image, and it will adapt these four King stories:

The Reaper's Image
The Monkey
N
Mile 81

In the latest issue of Rue Morgue Magazine (http://www.rue-morgue.com/magazine/latest-issue) there's a short interview with him where he gives the exclusive.

Also, he shared that the stories were chosen between him and Steve himself.

If you ask me, it's a WONDERFUL choice of stories to adapt! Looking forward for this project! :)

[skyofcrack]

Haven't read the last two yet but I'm glad to see the first two getting adapted. Thanks for the info.

[herbertwest]

thanks ari !

[Slender]

I really enjoyed The Night Flier, so I'm glad to see Mark Pavia getting a shot at another King project. Most directors seem to strip away all the intertextual links that connect King's stories, but Pavia actually went in the opposite direction, inserting numerous references to other King books – references that weren't even in the original Night Flier story. It really got across the feeling that this film was taking place in 'the Stephen King universe' – and, by extension, the Dark Tower universe.

Don't be surprised if he inserts narrative threads that link The Reaper's Image, The Monkey, N, and Mile 81 into a single, loosely connected story.

[DanishCollector]

Can't wait. Me like this a lot

[CyberGhostface]

Sounds interesting. I think King's short stories benefit from being part of a larger anthology as opposed to stretching them out into whole films.

[Shannon]

I loved reading "N.". Great atmosphere and feeling of dread throughout the whole thing. Very excited to see this one. "The Reaper's Image", not so much ... lol

[DanishCollector]

I think The Reaper's Image had the same kind of doom but it's of course a more quiet tale than N. But this must mean that Darabont won't be doing The Monkey after all. As long as he does The Long Walk, that's fine with me.

[mae]

Wasn't The Monkey adapted as part of some TV series in the '80s? Oh no, I'm thinking of something else.

[mikeC]

Wasn't The Monkey adapted as part of some TV series in the '80s? Oh no, I'm thinking of something else.

Mathew Broderick narrates the audiobook, that's pretty '80s.

I love horror anthologies, Trick R Treat is one of the best especially the way it ties all the stories together.
Sadly I don't see this happening given that studios don't like anthologies and the money that it would take to make this.

[herbertwest]

Wasn't The Monkey adapted as part of some TV series in the '80s? Oh no, I'm thinking of something else.

There was no official adaptation.

[divemaster]

Wasn't The Monkey adapted as part of some TV series in the '80s? Oh no, I'm thinking of something else.

It was stolen (plagerized) and released as the movie The Devil's Gift back in the mid-80s. A butchered version was included in the mid-90's movie Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders. This was a horrible horrible affront to humanity that had Ernest Borgnine narrating 2 lame "mystical tales" to his grandson or something. How and why they took portions of "The Devil's Gift" from 10 years earlier and mashed it into this anthology is beyond me.

[Merlin1958]

Wasn't The Monkey adapted as part of some TV series in the '80s? Oh no, I'm thinking of something else.

It was stolen (plagerized) and released as the movie The Devil's Gift back in the mid-80s. A butchered version was included in the mid-90's movie Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders. This was a horrible horrible affront to humanity that had Ernest Borgnine narrating 2 lame "mystical tales" to his grandson or something. How and why they took portions of "The Devil's Gift" from 10 years earlier and mashed it into this anthology is beyond me.


In truth, King has done a little "Plagarizing: himself. "Pet Semetary" is just a rehash of Poe's story of "The Monkey's Paw", if I recall correctly. Don't get me wrong, he expanded on the story and added new mythology, but its basicall the same story. He's done that a few times, but he does "King" them if ya know what I mean.

[mtdman]

I did not like N. The monkey scares the crap outta me. Mile 81 was bland, imo, and it was done better before in Buick 8. Somehow I've never read the reaper.

[divemaster]

In truth, King has done a little "Plagarizing: himself. "Pet Semetary" is just a rehash of Poe's story of "The Monkey's Paw", if I recall correctly. Don't get me wrong, he expanded on the story and added new mythology, but its basicall the same story. He's done that a few times, but he does "King" them if ya know what I mean.

I think you are comparing an apple to an orange. King may have taken the basic idea behind "The Monkey's Paw" for Pet Semetary, but that's about it. "The Monkey's Paw" was only 6 or 7 pages long if I recall and basically took place over the course of one evening. Pet Semetary was a completely new story that had no relation to "The Monkey's Paw" other than someone returning from the grave.

The Devil's Gift was almost a shot-for-shot telling of the King short story "The Monkey." The filmmakers didn't even have the brains to change it up a bit--maybe make it a toy clown or something and a different setting. But they did not do that.

(Oh, and "The Monkey's Paw" was written by W.W. Jacobs, not Poe.)

[Bev Vincent]

I interview Mark Pavia about Reaper's Image in the current issue of Screem magazine. I also wrote an essay about other King anthology projects.

http://screemag.com/images/25.jpg

Universal's stable of beloved monsters grace the cover of our 25th edition of Screem, courtesy of artist Mark Maddox. Greg Mank takes a look at the Classic Monster Blu-ray box set, and gives his perspective on the films that have inspired so many fans throughout several decades. Tom Weaver interviews Roger Corman on his first production, Monster from the Ocean Floor, Bev Vincent writes about Stephen King's creepy anthology films and interviews Mark Pavia on his collaboration with Mr. King, The Reaper's Image, Tippi Hedren reminiscences on the the 50th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, Scott Essman reflects back on Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Screem speaks with indie director Christopher R. Mihm, who creates new movies that look like they were produced in the 1950s, we take a sneak peek at the retro Sci-fi musical The Ghastly Love of Johnny X, which features Paul Williams and Kevin McCarthy in his final role, Michael "The Hills Have Eyes" Berryman is as creepy as ever in the new film Below Zero. All this plus book reviews, a new Fright Flick Pic and Blu-ray reviews featuring Criterion's Rosemary's Baby, Beyond the Black Rainbow, The Boogens, House and Night of Dark Shadows (reviewed by RJ Jamison), 1932's The Most Dangerous Game, William Castle's short lived TV series Ghost Story (AKA Circle of Fear), BFI's Deep End and Juan of the Dead plus plenty more goodies await you in the brand new issue of Screem magazine!

The issue will debut on Oct. 26th at the Chiller Theatre Expo in Parsippany, NJ and at Son of Monsterpalooza in Burbank, CA at the Bijou Collectables booth. The issue is now up for sale at www.screemag.com and will be available in stores and comic shops in mid November.

[Randall Flagg]

Great. Looking forward to it.

[mae]

http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3392586/fender-bender-director-mark-pavia-talks-slashers-new-stephen-king-anthology-film/

On Friday, June 3rd, Chiller and Shout! Factory will be airing the premiere of Fender Bender, an original slasher that was directed by Mark Pavia. This marks the return of Pavia, whose last movie was the 1997 vampiric horror film The Night Flier, which was based on a short story from author Stephen King.

To celebrate Pavia’s return and to also hype the upcoming premiere of Fender Bender, we managed to get an interview with the director, who revealed some fantastic and fascinating information about the movie, the changes 19 years can make to the industry, and his future plans, which include a horror anthology film based on the works of Stephen King!

[...]

Several years ago, there were talks that you were working on a Stephen King anthology film. What’s the status on that project?

Yes, ‘The Reaper’s Image’ — a Stephen King horror anthology film I wrote. Kind of a modern Creepshow, you know? There hasn’t been a Stephen King horror anthology film like this in almost 30 years, so it’s all very exciting. So, where it’s at right now… as I mentioned, there is a script, and the project is currently being handled by Stephen’s agent, Rand Holston, a really terrific and supportive guy and one of the best agents in town. A lot of people have been asking about it lately, tremendous interest building, so we’ll see. It would be an amazing project, no question about it.