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Frank Darabont: Stephen King
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You have to give it to Frank Darabont: When he makes a movie, he makes it all the way. His last film, The Majestic (2001), was intended to be a heart-warming populist fable in the Frank Capra vein, but he took it so far that its saccharine sentimental sweetness left a bad aftertaste in most viewers' mouths. Six years later he has decided to take the opposite route by adapting a Stephen King novella about a supernatural mist and making it even darker and more despairing than the source material. Darabont has adapted King before (1994's The Shawshank Redemption and 1999's The Green Mile), but he's never taken on one of his out-and-out horror stories. With The Mist, Darabont seems hellbent on proving that he can go for the jugular with as little restraint as he went for the heart in The Majestic. Thankfully, the horror genre tends to forgive lack of restraint much better than drama.
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After a five-year hiatus, Darabont returned to the screen with the extremely well-received The Green Mile, a film he directed, scripted and produced. Like The Shawshank Redemption, this film is ... based on a Stephen King work. The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture and Darabont was nominated for his second Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. He followed this with The Majestic two years later in 2001 to considerably less fanfare. Following lukewarm reviews from critics, the film failed at the box-office, recouping only half of its $72 million budget internationally.
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“The Mist” actually marks the fourth time Darabont has directed a Stephen King story. His first King adaptation was a 1983 short film based on “The Woman in the Room.” King apparently liked the short movie so much that when Darabont approached him to adapt “Shawshank” in the late 80s, King sold him the rights.
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By the age of 20, Darabont became involved in filmmaking. One of his first films was a short adaptation of Stephen King's The Woman in the Room, which made the semi-finalist list for Academy Award consideration in 1983.
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Darabont, of course, previously adapted for the big screen King's The Shawshank Redemption -- a beloved movie on almost everyone's favourite-film list -- as well as The Green Mile. Both received best-picture Oscar nominations. Darabont ... made a short film based on King's The Woman In The Room.
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Darabont said he intended to only write screenplays that he planned on directing himself. Case in point: “The Mist,” which is adapted from a Stephen King short story of the same name. After directing “Shawshank” and 1999’s “The Green Mile,” which ... were based on King’s works, you might think Darabont would be worn out on the ole master of horror.
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