1408 Casting

Quint from Ain’t It Cool News wrote the following article for Harry’s site. As always, Quint does a great job. This particular article is about Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack being cast as the leads. Go on, check it out; I’ll wait.

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=22930

Still there? Great! Here’s Evil Chicken’s spin.

1408 is a short story that appears in Stephen King’s latest collection of short stories, “Everything’s Eventual.” It’s a good short story, but it’s just that; a SHORT story. Whoever’s making it is going to have to stretch and add a whole lot more to the plot to make a full-length motion picture. When this sort of thing happens the story is what usually loses integrity. Studio executives will stretch it out to fill time and make regular, standard, paper cutter horror movie fare. The addition of Cusack, as the writer, is most welcome IMHO and Jackson, in the right roll, is awesome. I hope that 1408 will showcase his talents and that he makes the roll of the hotel manager his own. He can do it; check out Pulp Fiction and Unbreakable – two rolls that he owned! I still have hopes that Tarintino will come out with the ‘Further Adventures of Jules Winnfield as he Walks the Earth Like Kain.’ Hey, if they make it I’ll be first in line. : )

This being said, I’m still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the time constraints. 1408 would be best served in its original form and length. I’d love to see this as part of “Creepshow 3” instead of stretched to the point of breaking. The story is best served in its original form and at the end of the day, with my rose colored Hollywood glasses, that’s what should be served – the story. The major players in the film industry will usually take the easiest way out by slapping together a half realized version of a property, smack the author’s name on the product and release it to an illiterate public that has never read the book in the first place; too bad. Still and all there are still people who read, thank God. Some of these readers go to films and or the movies (there is most certainly a difference between the two). It is the reader (and possibly the author) who will walk out of the theater betrayed and downtrodden; knowing that some studio has dropped the ball once more.

Oh well. I still wish the best for the project. 1408 is a decent short story and it should translate well to the movies. Do yourself a favor before you shell out the $10.00 for your ticket – read the book; you won’t be disappointed.