The writer who inspired Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, and George A Romero: “I stole his idea”
We talk a lot about the heroes of cinema, but what about the heroes’ heroes? In the ranking of greatness, who gets the seat at the top? Is it the celebrated director, or the writer whose story first inspired them? If it’s the latter, there’s one who truly belongs in the God-tier, as his work inspired a whole host of legends, including Steven Spielberg.
Without a good script to start, a movie is doomed. It all comes back to that as the story is king. Without a good story, even the most beautifully made film in the world would fall somewhat short and be tiresome with no emotional core. Unless there is solid characterisation or something to grip onto, even the best director in the world would fail.
Surely, that makes the scriptwriter king and makes sense of why there are so many directors who cross over into both worlds, writing their own film first so they can then direct it exactly as they wish, bringing the entire vision to life.
But in other instances, the story already exists. Behind the scenes, there is a constant battle as directors or film studios stumble upon a great writer or novel and furiously bid against one another to own it. Arguably, it’s great novels that make the film world go round, as so many of the best films ever made began as paperbacks on a shelf that fell into the right hands.
In this case, it was Richard Matheson’s books, and the hands were truly legendary. The American author and screenwriter worked mostly in the worlds of fantasy, horror and sci-fi and after being discovered, became a mainstay influence for the top directors in those worlds, too.
Steven Spielberg was a fan, launching his own career with Matheson’s help as the author wrote Duel, Spielberg’s debut feature film. He remained forever grateful and indebted to the writer, stating, “I had one more ally on my side during the making of Duel—and that was luck. Pure luck…and a great story and script by Richard Matheson. To this day, I feel blessed that this opportunity landed in my life.”
But that wasn’t the only piece of cinematic history he contributed to. Matheson also influenced Night of the Living Dead, one of the most important horror movies ever made and a truly groundbreaking independent flick. Initially, George A Romero’s script was based on Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend, which has now been adapted for the screen several times, including the eponymous 2007 Will Smith movie. Romero and Matheson struck up a friendship from that, with the director ripping, “Richard actually jokes with me about saying that I stole his idea”, but in the end, he went with zombies while Matheson originally wrote about vampires.
It doesn’t stop there. Stephen King was a huge fan, too. Not a director, but still an important figure in the same cinematic world as Matheson, who, to him, was a sign of what he could achieve. He was a vital inspiration for the author, who clearly had big dreams when it came to his words making it to the big screen.
“To me as a kid, that was a revelation that was extremely exciting,” he said about discovering the author who wrote horror predominantly based in domestic settings and with more of a humanistic emotional core at the centre of the fear. “He was putting the horror in places that I could relate to,” King said of what spurred his work.
It’s a powerful trio to have influenced, meaning that surely, Matheson sits on a throne above them.
