42 Years Ago, This Gory Stephen King Adaptation Changed the Book's Ending (& Got an Unexpected Letter of Thanks From the Author)

Stephen King is among the most prolific authors, and plenty of of his works have been tailored into movies and tv exhibits. The horror creator has been very vocal about his ideas on his diversifications, however one in all them even received a letter of thanks for altering one of many endings.

In 1983, Lewis Teague directed the variation of Cujo, primarily based on King’s 1981 novel of the same name. The story follows a mom and son who’re trapped inside attempting to flee their canine, who will get wild after being bitten by a bat. In a brand new look on Steve Kmetko’s podcast Still Here Hollywood, lead actress Dee Wallace detailed King’s response to the movie altering the ending, per Entertainment Weekly.

Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) holds a knife in Misery.

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Across the 18:15 mark, Wallace opened up about Cujo. “Cujo is my favourite film of mine,” the actress revealed. “The film could be very completely different from the e-book. Within the film, the canine’s possessed by a demon and the child dies. And once they introduced me aboard, I mentioned, ‘The child cannot die. Come on. It is the Eighties. You possibly can’t put all people what we will put them by way of.‘”

I’ve by no means gotten extra hate mail for anything I’ve performed.

About altering the ending, the actress argued, “Half the individuals aren’t going to have learn the e-book that come to see the film.” The actress revealed that director Lewis Teague and producer Robert Singer, who later turned a showrunner on Supernatural, agreed together with her.

“Stephen King wrote us after Cujo,” Wallace revealed. The creator wrote them a thanks letter, and “mentioned, ‘Thank God you did not kill the child on the finish. I’ve by no means gotten extra hate mail for anything I’ve performed.’“

“He is very, very genuous about his lovely feedback about Cujo,” the actress famous when Kmetko identified King is usually vocal about not at all times liking his diversifications.

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Wallace additional highlighted her stance as an animal activist, and revealed that she was very adamant to create a constructive atmosphere for the canines who performed the titular canine. “There have been 13 canines that performed Cujo as a result of, and this was one in all my nice considerations that I requested about earlier than I took the film, as a result of I am an animal activist, you possibly can’t overwork an animal. You possibly can overwork me, which they did, however these canines had been so properly [taken care of].”

Cujo Is Getting a New Adaptation

There have been many diversifications primarily based on King’s works, and a few of them received a particular remedy and had been tailored greater than as soon as. Cujo will comply with the identical sample. Netflix is formally engaged on a new adaptation of King’s Cujo.

There are few particulars concerning the upcoming characteristic movie, besides that Roy Lee is connected to the mission as a producer. It was additionally reported that Darren Aronofsky was in talks to direct the film, and it will mark his first film for a streaming service. To date, the upcoming adaptation does not have a forged.

Netflix’s Cujo doesn’t but have a launch window.

Supply: Entertainment Weekly