The Stephen King movie Stephen King got sick of: “I never want to see it again”
Stephen King struck gold when he had his first novel, Carrie, transformed into a movie.
It can often be the case that an author will remain relatively unknown even if they’ve had one of their books adapted for the big screen unless they’re already famous, but for King, it proved to be the ultimate catalyst for his success.
He soon became one of the most well-known writers in America and a go-to for book-to-movie adaptations. No matter what he releases, it’s likely going to get the big screen treatment, and many of his works have become stone-cold classics, ranging from Stand by Me to The Shawshank Redemption and It.
You’d think that having so many of your books turned into films would make you feel pretty smug, but I guess King is so used to it now, because he doesn’t even get excited about some of the adaptations based on his own work. In fact, sometimes he actively avoids watching them, not because he doesn’t like all of them (don’t talk to him about The Shining, though), but simply because he’s fucking sick of them.
Presumably, the excitement of having your work transformed for the silver screen wears off once it becomes your whole life – seriously, over 80 productions based on King’s work have been made. If there’s one he’s sick of most, though, it’s the one that started it all.
Carrie was only ever meant to be a short story, something King had a crack at before binning the first few pages. He didn’t think he had any business writing from a female perspective and nearly left it there. Luckily, his wife dug the pages out of the bin, told him to crack on, and gave him the push he needed to see it through. Good thing, too – if he’d given up on Carrie, there’s every chance we wouldn’t even know the name Stephen King today.
When it got picked up to become a movie at the hands of Brian De Palma, King’s life changed forever, but he’d happily go the rest of his life without watching Carrie ever again. Recalling the first time he ever saw the film, King revealed (via Bare Bones: Conversations on Terror with Stephen King by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller), “So I sat in this theatre between two porno shops on Broadway, and I thought, ‘History is going to repeat itself, this is going to be the third time, this picture is going to be a real dog.’ I thought it was really pretty good.
“I’ve lost the feeling of that first impression now, because I’ve seen the film about five times. I never want to see it again. I watched the baseball playoffs when it was on TV.”
Still, Carrie remains a favourite for many, with its release coming during a transformative time for horror. The genre was getting gorier and grittier, and De Palma’s blood-soaked film was a huge success as a result. It was star-making for Sissy Spacek, who played the telekinesis-powered teenager, but also a breakthrough for De Palma and King. These days, though, King couldn’t care less if Carrie was on TV. He’s over it.
