Hollywood's Stephen King

For the past three decades, Hollywood has developed a quiet obsession with translating Stephen King’s fiction into film. Of the many major films that have been made of his novels and stories, not one has lost money. Part of this may be explained in terms of King’s own popularity in American culture – he has been, after all, a best-selling writer since the late 1970s. But more interesting is what this cinematic fascination reveals about postmodern American culture. In this overview of Hollywood’s major cinematic interpretations of Stephen King, Tony Magistrale examines the various thematic, narrative, and character interconnections that highlight the relationship among his films. Opening with a revealing interview with Stephen King, the book takes us through chapters that explore such popular films as “Stand By Me”, “Misery”, “The Shining”, “The Green Mile” and “The Shawshank Redemption”, among others.

Author Biography

TONY MAGISTRALE is Professor of English at the University of Vermont. He has taught courses in writing and American literature at the University of Vermont since 1983 when he returned to the United States after a Fulbright post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Milan, Italy. Tony Magistrale has published extensively in the field of Anglo-American Gothicism. His dozen books and many published articles have illuminated the genre’s narrative themes, psychological and social contexts, and historical development. He is frequently interviewed in national newspapers and magazines.