Fans of the 2007 feature length adaptation of American horror writer Stephen King’s The Mist might already be aware that a television series based in part on the original novella is currently under production on the behalf of Dimension Television, with Christian Thorpe serving as the series’ executive producer. The new show will take direct inspiration from Frank Darabont’s film, though Dimension head Bob Weinstein has previously stated that, “The terror and drama in Stephen King‘s novella are so vast that we felt serialized television is the best place to explore them in greater depth.“
It remains to be seen just what kinds of material can be further mined from King’s seminal story of contemporary supernatural terror and late-twentieth century paranoia, though the latest word on the production has the series pilot already headed to a U.S. cable network.
According to The Wrap, Spike has ordered the pilot episode of The Mist, which is set to tell the well known story of an enigmatic mist that sweeps over an unsuspecting American town and unleashes unknown terrors upon the general population. All parties involved at both Dimension and Spike are apparently excited by the opportunity that the new series will offer, with Spike Executive Vice President of Original Series Sharon Levy stating:
“We are thrilled to join forces with the incredibly creative Christian Torpe and Dimension Films to develop Stephen King‘s enthralling novella to a compelling series unlike anything else on television.“
Fans of Darabont’s 2007 film might share said enthusiasm for the project moving forward, as the film was met with generally positive reception when it first went to theaters, and the new show would do well to heed some of the examples set in by the former adaptation of the same source material. When asked to comment on his working partnership with Spike on the new program, Weinstein added:
“We are excited to be in business with Spike on their first scripted production pilot and working with the very talented Christian Torpe to further explore Stephen King‘s classic novella and bring this riveting series to television audiences.“
Until the series finally sees its television premiere on Spike, Stephen King fans the world over will just have to wait, and perhaps revisit the 1980 classic novella that has now given rise to two filmed adaptations. Darabont might have seemingly done the story best when he initially adapted it to the big screen, but Thorpe, Dimension, and Spike appear ready to give audiences even more of the same thrilling intrigue and drama.
Screen Rant will keep you updated on The Mist as development continues.
