“It was impossible”: the Stephen King movie abandoned after 10 weeks of shooting
In theory, since there’s been so many of them, Stephen King adaptations should be one of the easiest things in Hollywood to produce. Snap up the rights to one of his novels, novellas, or short stories, hire a screenwriter, solicit a director, start production, and Bob’s yer uncle.
In practice, that’s not too far from the truth. Since Brian De Palma’s Carrie accidentally kicked off one of film and television’s favourite subgenres almost 50 years ago, the next page-to-screen translation of the author’s work has never been too far away. These days, it feels like there’s always at least one in development, which, if anything, is selling it short.
Studios, streaming services, and production companies keep returning to the well for a number of reasons. As arguably the most well-known author on the planet with hundreds of millions of copies sold, King has become a brand unto himself, and attaching his name to something usually guarantees an audience.
It also helps that he specialises in horror, a medium that’s about the easiest sell in the business. Of course, some of the best adaptations have been dramas, like The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, and The Green Mile, but things didn’t go so well when Alan Bridges began shooting one of his own, Apt Pupil.
The source material was still pretty grim, though, with the story full of blackmail, deceit, Nazism, murder, and misery. In 1987, the cameras started rolling, with Nicol Williamson playing Arthur Denker, an elderly gentleman revealed to be the wanted Nazi war criminal, Kurt Dussander, with Ricky Schroeder cast as the increasingly troubled Todd Bowden.
Ten weeks into principal photography, Apt Pupil collapsed. The production company behind the picture, Granat Releasing, ran out of money, forcing the film to shut down. Attempts were made to revive the project, with producer and rights-holder Richard Kobritz the driving force, but as screenwriter Ken Wheat recalled, since it had been so long and Schroeder had aged so noticeably, “it was impossible.”
That wasn’t even the first issue to plague Apt Pupil V1.0. James Mason had originally been approached to play Dussander, but died shortly afterwards. Next on the list was Richard Burton, who also passed away soon after. Williamson would have had a good reason to refuse a meeting, then, but at least he didn’t die until 2011.
The rights eventually reverted back to King in 1995 after he sued to get hold of them, and as a lifelong fan of the story, Bryan Singer pitched to acquire them for a fresh take on the tale. The second attempt went off without a hitch, and while it was an excellent showcase for Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro in the lead roles, it was neither a critical nor a commercial hit.
Decades later, it became the subject of a lawsuit filed against the disgraced filmmaker for inappropriate conduct, making Apt Pupil an altogether cursed endeavour for any number of reasons. “It was a bad luck project,” King conceded as far back as December 1996, and he was right.
