UPDATES

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01/27/01 -- No real new news, but I did just notice that Coming Attractions has added a page with cool Dreamcatcher info on it, which you can read by clicking HERE. This sounds like my next favorite book so I am waiting with baited breath for it.

Loved On Writing, but didn't get around to submitting the assigned manuscript to the StephenKing.com. Oh well. Plus, I just ordered Blood and Smoke from Amazon, by way of GreaterGood.com, which is the best way to buy things since 15% of what you pay goes to the charity of your choice!

11/29/00 - The great Dark Horizons had this production report on their front page today:

'Elwood Blues' has a short and opinionated eywitness report from the set of this Stephen King mini-series currently filming up in Seattle:

"I took a trip to the set of the "Rose Red" mini-series, and it's amazing. One of the biggest sets I've ever seen, it takes up two or three huge airplane hangers. While on the set I had a couple conversations with Craig Baxley - the director. He's a great guy. Real easy to talk to, and full of advice. Julian Sands on the other hand is a pompous you-know-what. Anyway there is this other fellow, big guy, who is dressed up like a total geek (glasses and all), he plays the comic relief. He's hilarious, while preforming in front of the camera, every one on the set is trying not to laugh at his goofy ass. The movie looks like it's coming along pretty well, and with some awsome special effects to be thrown in too. I also heard a early 2002 release date is what they're pushing for."

11/27/00 - OK, sadly, SK is going to take his attention away from The Plant after installment six. The good news is he's working on a sequel to The Talisman as well as a project I'm jonesing in a serious way for, called Dreamcatcher, which sounds It-esque (my all-time fave SK tome). Read SK's announcement here. I'm finally reading the great On Writing. It's truly wizard. I picked it up when it came out but the old schedule has prevented me from reading it until now. I'm glad I saved it cause now I can relish it.

10/7/00 - OK, Firstly, the Gray Lady has a begrudgingly good (peppered with thinly-veiled condescention) review of SK's ON WRITING by Frederick Busch here. The cool thing is, they've supplemented it with a page with interviews and links to all SK-related articles from the Times, which you can read here and the first chapter of ON WRITING, which you can read here. Thanks NY Times (it's still the only book review I tend to read).

In other news, I almost forgot about the book SK is said to have written for his daughter Naomi, THE EYES OF THE DRAGON. Well, it looks like an animated version of this tale is headed toward the big screen. Read all about it at the great Coming Attractions. While you're there, read up on the other SK flicks in various stages of production, preproduction and development - Desperation, Dreamcatcher and Hearts in Atlantis.

9/13/00 - I am glad Garth over at Dark Horizons is keeping up with the SK projects. Here's an item from today's report about Hearts in Atlantis filming in Virginia:

"Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis is supposedly going to be filmed in Staunton, VA. Hannibal is complete and Hopkins is on his way there. Staunton, VA is home of Mary Baldwin College. Students and local stations have been doing stories about the movie beginning to shoot in town. Bear in mind this is just a rumor, but it makes since and it would be a good location for a movie such as this. Hopkins is supposedly staying at one of the many B&Bs on the outskirts of town."

9/12/00 - Today's Dark Horizons had the following report about casting (some of which we've already seen, btw) and story on Rose Red. The story reminds us of a California tourist trap called the Mystery Spot, which actually did involve a person who was compelled through supernatural fears to continue adding onto a house until death:

Rose Red: More info on that Stephen King mini-series project. The cast includes such names as: Nancy Travis, Julia Campbell, Matt Keeslar, Julian Sands, Melanie Lynskey and Kevin Tighe who all star in the production about a group of psychics taken to a famous mansion to awaken the ghosts and learn its secret. The basic mystery of the house revolves around a wealthy executive and his family who returned from vacation and mysteriously died - except for the wife who learned she'll stay alive if she continues adding onto the house. There's some flashback scenes set in 1910 which were filmed last week and held up local traffic along Seattle's Spring Street due to a "team of horse-drawn carriages". Thanks to 'Rob' and Lilja's Library

9/11/00 - Now that preproduction is heating up on the Stephen King/William Goldman/Castle Rock production of SK's transcendent recent release Hearts In Atlantis, Castle Rock has already inked a deal to make a similar tryst over SK's latest (as-yet-unpublished) book, The Dreamcatcher, which Goldman will adapt. Now, not only am I nervously eyeing my local bookstore in anticipation of a) On Writing, and B) A Life in the Cinema (the Mick Garris book), I am now eagerly anticipating both the book and movie incarnations of The Dreamcatcher. Variety reported this story, giving the following one-liner: This story is about a four boys who receive a strange gift as children in reward for their act of great heroism. As adults the four get back together to put that mysterious power to use in stopping an enemy. Castle Rock president Martin Shafer said, "While Stephen has always been best known for writing horror, characters like Red (Morgan Freeman) in Shawshank, John Coffey (Michael Clark Duncan) in Green Mile have been the strength of these movies. He's a great storyteller, period, even when he works outside that genre." Right on, Marty.

9/7/00 - If you're like me, then you've been drooling, hallucinating and spouting non-sequiters about the bevy of SK projects on the horizons. Uppermost in desirability on this list is his nonfiction book, ON WRITING. The fine folks at SK's publishing house Simon & Shuster have emailed around a brief excerpt of this book to recipients of its mailing list. I have put it up for all to read H E R E.

In other news, the great Garth Franklin at Dark Horizons has posted an item about the upcoming SK TV project, Rose Red:

Rose Red: 'Andy' has this scoop on a Stephen King mini-series in production up in Seattle - more details tomorrow:

"I live in downtown Seattle Washington. About three blocks away from me they have blocked off an entire block of street. They are beginning to build a set for a scene in a Stephen King mini-series called, according to the person I talked to, "Rose Red". This sounds really familiar to me being a huge S.K fan, but right now I cant place it.

So far the set looks like a old driveway with a wrought iron gate. Only one side of the gate was up and it had an R on it. It looks like the are turning this block of road into a wildly over grown driveway. When i was leaving they were brining in what looked like a couple of "brick" walls."

8/24/00 - Stephen King's awesome band of pen-wielding rockers, the Rock Bottom Remainders, are going to upload their tunes to MP3.com. This is major news for those who, like me, read about all those benefit concerts the Remainders have given and wished to be able to hear them just once. YAY!!! Download their music H E R E !. From The Hollywood Reporter: King, Tan, Barry write MP3 files for their band All-star literary band the Rock Bottom Remainders -- featuring horror master Stephen King, novelist Amy Tan and humorist Dave Barry -- are taking their music to the Internet via MP3.com. The literary jam band has gained notoriety by performing at various charity events around the country. The idea for the group came from Don't Quit Your Day Job Records president Kathi Kamen Goldmark, who is also a member of the band. The scribe group performs original tunes penned by fellow writers as well as covers of rock and pop classics. The Rock Bottom Remainders' songs are available for streaming and downloading at MP3.com. Among the tracks available are Barry's original tune "Tupperware Blues" and a cover of Lee Hazlewood's hit "These Boots Are Made for Walking," featuring Tan on vocals.(to read more of the story, you must pick up a copy of the magazine since this is all they carried on their website.)

NEWSFLASH! Find out what naughty Carlos Detweiller is going to do by downloading Part 2 of The Plant, which is now available at Stephenking.com.

8/23/00 - From today's Hollywood Reporter: Travis hunting King's ghosts in ABC's mini - Nancy Travis (TNT's "Running Mates") leads the cast of "Stephen King's Rose Red," an original six-hour miniseries for ABC from the horror master, which is expected to air during the February 2002 sweep. Travis is joined by two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey ("The Devil's Advocate," "Hurlyburly"), Kimberly Brown ("Tumbleweeds"), Julian Sands ("Leaving Las Vegas," "A Room With a View") and Matt Keeslar ("The Last Days of Disco," CBS' "Durango") in the miniseries, which King wrote after a June 1999 accident in which he was hit by a van while walking near his Lewiston, Maine, home (HR 5/8). The three-part miniseries tells the story of Rose Red, a dormant haunted mansion built in 1907 by a Seattle oil magnate. An obsessed psychology professor, Joyce Reardon (Travis), commissions a team of psychics and a gifted 15-year-old autistic girl (Brown) to wake the ghosts. Their attempts unleash myriad spirits and bring to light the horrifying secrets of the generations that have lived and died there.

8/21/00 - Inside.com continues its coverage of the sales and implications of The Plant. One thing I neglected to report was a positive review for the screenplay to the Desperation project, which last anyone heard had gone into turnaround at New Line Cinema and the rights had reverted to Mick Garris and Stephen King. This is a favorite project of King'z Walk and we hope it ends up somewhere cool cuz we WANNIT! This review can be found HERE! There are spoilers, but how many among us haven't read Desperation?

8/12/00 - The Great New York Times Sunday Magazine has just profiled SK in this week's book. I'm mid-way through reading it and it's illuminating, respectful and chock-full of scoops (his new miniseries, and new novel, Dreamcatcher). Check it out here. You might have to register, but relax, it's free. Tell em Kingz Walk sent ya!

8/8/00 - According to the mailing list at Simon Says' SK site, SK is going to be on Good Morning America on October 2nd. His new book, ON WRITING, is also going to be profiled in the The New York Times Sunday Magazine on August 13th -- wait, that's barely a week away! Additionally, that bastion of intellectual pursuit, Elle Magazine, will feature the book in September (probably on stands now, or soon!). Look to this site for links and/or scans of any groovy images of the 21st century's uber-storyteller.

8/2/00 - SK's publishing house has begun a drawing for free copies of the upcoming SK non-fiction tome, On Writing, which I can't wait to read. Enter the drawing, browse the site, and download bookmarks like the one above at Simon Says.

In the meantime, over at Stephenking.com Sk has done something book authors and publishers NEVER do -- published his exact returns. One of those $s was from me. Right on, Steve.

7/27/00 - It's like 10 years ago and I'm obsessing over one book or another when I learn of a book that SK wrote as a serial and sent every Christmas to his friends. This book, called The Plant, is one of those mythical things, like finding an actual Aurora model at a thrift shop or one of Dali's paintbrushes in somebody's garage. I always hoped I would have that kind of luck and stumble on a copy of The Plant. That, of course, didn't happen. But now, thanks to SK himself, The Plant is available for downloading from his awesome site for a buck per installment. Is that a %$&*^( deal or what? Ya gotta just make sure you honor the agreement and fork it over, because if he gets ripped off, we'll never get the next installment. Anyway, this is a really great opportunity to read a mythical piece of SK writing. Get thee to stephenking.com!

7/5/00 - SK has an in this past week's issue of The New Yorker in which he goes back in time to the day he was hit by an out-of-control van and his long, painful recovery from the edge of death. It's candid, insightful, beautifully-written and, of course, witty. Kingz Walk definitely reccommends finding a copy.

Stephen King has written a note to his fans asking a) if we think he should post his legendary story, The Plant, on his site, and b) if we can be trusted to pay a buck a pop to download it. Vote in his poll now. I voted that we can be trusted but in reality, some well-meaning (but short-sighted) ripper sent us Riding the Bullet not long after it was out. We at Kingz Walk would rather be out a buck (or two fifty for that matter to read something we could, in theory, only obsess about and MAYBE buy on ebay for thousands of dollars.

SK has also updated his "the future" section, with confirmations of the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon movie to be adapted and directed by George Romero, the Rose Red miniseries, an independent film adaptation of Stud City (pop quiz: in what novella did this story-within-a-story appear?) and a link to that production's site, more details on the Hearts in Atlantis flick, mention of being "in negotiations with a studio" on the Mick Garris directed Desperation, and even more amazing news from the master American storyteller. For those of you ready to rock, we salute you!!!

This is a great bit of news for both SK fans and Hopkins fans (we at Kingzwalk are both). From 5/30/00 Hollywood Reporter: Hicks surfaces in 'Atlantis'; Hopkins in view

Director Scott Hicks has zeroed in on his next project: Castle Rock Entertainment's coming-of-age feature "Hearts in Atlantis," which William Goldman has adapted from a Stephen King novella. Anthony Hopkins is in talks to star in the project, which is tentatively being planned for a fall start. Hopkins may segue into "Hearts" from "Hannibal," which he is shooting in Italy. "Hearts," which is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam war, centers around an 11-year-old fatherless boy whose life is changed when an eccentric adult with a strange past (Hopkins) boards at his home. "Hearts" marks Castle Rock's sixth project with King, having most recently collaborated on the Frank Darabont-directed "The Green Mile." Their relationship began nearly 15 years ago with "Stand By Me," followed by "Misery," "Needful Things," "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Dolores Claiborne." (Zorianna Kit)

From 5/23/00 aint it cool news: The last bombshell dropped in the interview is this: Romero has written and plans to start production this summer on an adaptation of Stephen King's novel, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Le Studio Canal+ is financing (they funded "Bruiser").

5/14/00: A rumor is circulating that Desperation is about to go into production through an independent film company. SK wrote the screenplay adaptation and Mick Garris, who directed the The Stand, The Shining (miniseries) and Sleepwalkers, will direct. The project was previously at New Line, which never gave it a green light, and rights reverted back to King and Garris. Thanks to Coming Attractions.

From 5/9/00 NY Daily News:

Writers' Joint Opinions

Rock 'n' roll, man! Specifically: the best albums to listen to stoned. The thrill writer and the "Satanic Verses" author met up at the bash that New Yorker fiction editor Bill Buford hosted at his Gramercy Park apartment Friday.

Apparently, primo head music is still what both guys care about. Unfortunately, we didn't catch King's choice when he and Rushdie started sharing their favorite getting-high tracks. But Rushdie told us he still got a lift from Pink Floyd. "I'm an old guy," the 52-year-old said modestly, even though he has written a song with U2's Bono. "Of course," Rushdie added with a smile, "I never inhaled."
....
As for King, things are looking up for him since he was struck by a van last summer. The accident "was like being hit by lightning. And surviving.…The accident made me aware of how fragile life is. Anything can happen, and you've got to do the good things as soon as you can. I'm a lot less concerned about the small stuff."

From 5/8/00 Hollywood Reporter:
TV Talk: Stephen King's new six-hour original miniseries for ABC, Rose Red (working title), is getting ready to bloom. The project, King's first TV endeavor since being seriously injured in a car accident in June, is expected to enter postproduction around July 4. Rose Red, executive produced by King and Mark Carliner, is set in a haunted house. In keeping with King's trademark style, the opening act of the project last year was hair raisingly spooky.

On Friday, June 18, King and Carliner had a long phone conversation about the project. Carliner loved the story idea and King was supposed to start writing the script Monday.
The following day, King was hit by a van while walking near his Lewiston, Maine, home, suffering a collapsed lung, multiple fractures of the right leg and hip and a scalp laceration (:( - ed.). He spent a month in the hospital, but when he returned home, he went right back to work on Rose Red.

"The accident did not take away even a bit of Stephen King's edge," said Carliner, whose Mark Carliner Prods. also produced King's 1999 miniseries Storm of the Century. "This is some of his best writing ever."

Shooting is planned for August-Christmas -- with Storm director Craig R. Baxeley reprising his role behind the camera -- followed by six months of postproduction. The elaborate visual effects planned for Rose Red will probably push the budget beyond the $30 million spent on Storm of the Century. Carliner Prods. plans to deliver the miniseries to ABC by Labor Day 2001, in time for Halloween and November sweeps.

King makes first public appearance

From the 3/29/00 Eon Magazine: DIRECTOR MICK GARRIS TELLS ALL By WILLIAM C. MARTELL
Director Mick Garris is set to publish his first book, A LIFE IN THE CINEMA, this October... just in time for Halloween. With an introduction by Stephen King, who worked with Garris on THE STAND and the TV version of THE SHINING and cover art by Clive Barker. King says in his introduction: "Here is a real Hollywood insider writing about the real inside world of filmmaking: the good, the bad and the cheesy. These stories are both erotic and cynical, but they are above all well and fiercely told... hard-boiled noir with a ghastly little prick of the devil's own pitchfork." A LIFE IN THE CINEMA will be released in a signed, limited-edition hardcover by Gauntlet Press. Garris is a supervising producer of NBC's supernatural show THE OTHERS, and wrote Saturday night's episode DON'T DREAM IT'S OVER as well as directing both the pilot and the LUCIFEROUS episode.

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