The Shawshank Redemption
King’s short story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is adapted by Frank Darabont into The Shawshank Redemption, a feature film starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman as two inmates involved in a money laundering plot in Shawshank State Prison. The film makes $28.3 million in the box office after being produced on a $25 million budget. The film currently holds the #1 spot in IMDb’s “Top 250” best films list. Darabont has adapted many of King’s works into film and says he’s always been attracted to his work as a writer.
What attracts me to his work? He’s one hell of a story spinner. He spins yarns in a very old-school way that tend to be very involving, very rich in character. […] Stephen is a very old-fashioned storyteller, in the best sense of being old-fashioned. Aside from character and absorbing narrative, he has one hell of a knack for suspense, as he’s proven time and again.
Natural Born Killers
Downey stars in this crime film written and directed by Oliver Stone. He plays a ratings-hungry tabloid journalist named Wayne Gale, who features mass murdering couple Mickey and Mallory on his TV show. As a result, the viewing public sees the criminals as cult heroes. The film also stars Woody Harrelson ad Juliette Lewis as the killers and Tom Sizemore as the detective that pursues them. On adopting an Australian accent for this role:
I just think that the Australian phenomenon reminds me more of American as with the British invasion from the ’60s. But when I was thinking about Kirk Lazarus I was thinking about Colin Farrell, about Daniel Day Lewis and about Russell Crowe and whoever was the most effective tool for whatever my thing was, I would use.
Angels in the Outfield
Gordon-Levitt stars in this Disney comedy remake of the 1951 film of the same name. The 13-year old actor plays Roger, a foster child who loves the dismally performing California Angels and yearns for a normal family. He begins to see angels after praying to God for his team to win so that he can have his father back. The actor is joined by Christopher Lloyd as head angel Al, Danny Glover as Angels manager George Knox, and Tony Danza as Angels pitcher Mel Clark.
The Stand
Mick Garris directs the made for television film adaptation of King’s The Stand, which premieres on ABC network. Starring Gary Sinise, Rob Lowe and Molly Ringwald, the 366 minute, four part film follows a group of post-apocalyptic survivors as they begin to reform a society after the world population is wiped out by a militarized version of the plague. When King heard that The Stand was being made into a film, he was less than enthusiastic about it and unsure if it would work.
I didn’t know anything about this until I read about it on the Internet. You absolutely can’t make it as a two-hour movie. If it was a trilogy of films…maybe. People who’ve seen Kubrick’s The Shining dislike the miniseries I wrote (and my amigo Mick Garris directed) even if they haven’t seen it. That’s always annoyed me. But the wheel of karma turns! This time people will probably say, “The miniseries was lots better.”
Being Human
In this fantasy drama directed by Bill Forsyth, Williams plays the part of Hector who starts out as a caveman that lost his wife and is reincarnated over and over again until he is a modern day divorced man trying to get to know his kids. He learns the meaning of life over four lifetimes. Costarring John Turturro and Kelly Hunter. Forsythe:
He has observational humor and brings out great performances from other actors
Philadelphia
Washington plays lawyer Joe Miller in the drama Philadelphia. Attorney Andrew Beckett, played by Tom Hanks, is fired from his law firm after they find out that he has contracted AIDS. He decides to sue his firm with the help of homophobic lawyer, Miller. After spending time with Beckett, Miller starts to understand that he is no different than anyone else. Hanks thanks Washington as he receives an Oscar Award for his performance:
…and a cast that includes many other people, but the actor who really put his film image at risk and shone because of his integrity, Mr. Denzel Washington.
The Pelican Brief
Washington plays reporter Gray Grantham in the crime drama The Pelican Brief. A law student, played by Julia Roberts, writes a legal brief about the motives behind the killings of two Supreme Court justices. A failed assassination attempt on her life validates the accuracy of her brief. She teams up with Grantham as they both try to find evidence of the truth. On accepting the role:
They just asked me to do it. I said, ‘Hey, this is a no-brainer.’ I got to ride the Julia machine. Julia’s a moneymaking machine.
Mrs. Doubtfire
Williams stars in this comedy as Daniel Hillard, a father posing as his ex-wife’s housekeeper and nanny named Mrs. Doubtfire, so that he may spend more time with his three children. The film also stars Sally Field.
It’s a love story basically about a man and his children. He can’t imagine being away from them for one day so he goes and takes a desperate measure to be with them everyday.
Cyborg 2
In this sci-fi action thriller directed by Michael Schroeder, Jolie plays Cassella “Cash” Reese, a cyborg designed to seduce. Cash seduces her way into the competition’s facilities as planned but falls for one of the humans she is supposed to destroy. The two decide to escape with trackers hot on their tales. Co-starring Elias Koteas and Jack Palance. On the first time she watched it:
Oh, I threw up. I did. I saw it and I threw up. Just nausea. But the kickboxing was fun. It was the first time I was sent to do kickboxing. But I was 17 and I think I thought I was making a real movie, which is odd, since there’s a scene when I’m decapitated and talking … as one does. But, yeah, I saw it and got really sick. I just remember my brother Jamie [Haven] holding me and saying, ‘It’s going to be all right.
Wayne’s World 2
Aerosmith performs Dude (Looks Like a Lady) and Shut Up and Dance for the movie. In the movie Wayne and Garth are hosts of a public-access television cable TV show in Aurora, Illinois. The cast in the movie are Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Christopher Walken, Tia Carrere and Chris Farley
Much Ado About Nothing
Washington plays Don Pedro in this romantic comedy film based on the William Shakespeare play of the same name. As the Prince of Aragon, he is the most powerful character in the story, and uses this to manipulate events like bringing Beatrice and Benedick together and arranging the marriage of Claudio and Hero. The film also stars Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, and Kate Beckinsale.
I’ve never acted as silly in a movie as I am in this one.
Toys
In this comedy directed by Barry Levinson, Williams plays a military general who inherits a toy factory. He starts making war toys and his employees have to band together to stop him from ruining the name of the toy store. Costarring Michael Gambon and John Cusack.
It was magnificently fun to do because I would just go in knowing I was going to this magical place.
http://youtu.be/Juk8R28_RuM
Malcolm X
Washington plays the title character in the biographical drama Malcolm X. This film tells the story of one of the most influential and controversial African American leaders of the century – his early life as an unknown gangster, becoming a member of the Nation of Islam, being a human rights activist, and getting assassinated. He co-stars with Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, and Spike Lee.
For young people, I would like them to see that one doesn’t have to be a slave to one’s environment. That one can pull oneself out.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Waits plays Renfield, Count Dracula’s bug-eating minion, in this Francis Ford Coppola adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. Count Dracula comes to Victorian England seeking his reincarnated love, now engaged to Jonathan Harker. Co-starring Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Hopkins.
I did not actually eat the bugs. And I’ll say that because I’ve lied to other people and told them I did eat the bugs. I didn’t want anybody to think I didn’t have the courage to eat insects. What I really did was put ’em in my mouth and give them kind of a funhouse ride. Uhhh – move them around, let them walk along the jagged cliff of my teeth. And then I brought them back out again. A lot of them wanted to buy a ticket and go right back in for another ride. It was only mealworms – but there were a lot of spiders. I was working with insects. I’ve been in show business for 25 years, and I’m working with insects.
Aladdin
Williams stars as the voice of Genie in the film Aladdin. In the film Genie helps Aladdin grant his wishes to win the love of Princess Jasmine.
The one thing I said was I will do the voice. I’m doing it basically because I want to be part of this animation tradition. I want something for my children. One deal is, I just don’t want to sell anything–as in Burger King, as in toys, as in stuff.
Shakes the Clown
In this comedy directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, Williams plays a mime class instructor. A drunk clown is accused of killing his boss, so he poses as a mime to gather information to clear his name. Costars Julie Brown, Bruce Baum, and Steve Bean.
It allowed me to put some lessons to work. Many people wouldn’t think I studied the art of mime.
Hook
Williams plays Peter Banning all grown up in the film, Hook. In the movie, Peter Banning has forgotten his roots as Peter Pan in Neverland, but must find them and return when his children are kidnapped by Hook—played by Dustin Hoffman.
The hardest part was to get the innocence of it. Like when I see my daughter, who’s 2, who sees a Christmas tree, to get that face. To lose the fact that you’re 40 and get to a point that’s 10 or 11.
The Fisher King
Williams stars alongside Jeff Bridges in this drama directed by Terry Gilliam. Bridges’s character, shock jock Jack Lucas, inadvertently pushes a psychotic radio caller over the edge and suffers a breakdown himself after finding out the caller has committed a massacre. Several years later, while working as a clerk at a video store and heavily depressed, he is rescued from an attack by homeless man Parry, played by Williams. He becomes involved with Parry and finds he is connected to the tragedy that caused his own downfall. Jack must rescue him in an urban re-imagining of the legend of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King.
Parry is a man with a previous life that was so damaged that he had to create another personality … Some people respond to traumatic or tragic events by withdrawal; some even create other personalities. Parry is a creation – somewhat Don Quixote, somewhat Groucho Marx – but he’s a creation designed to avoid a past event.
Awakenings
In this drama directed by Penny Marshall, Williams plays Dr. Malcolm Sayer, based on the 1973 nonfiction book by Oliver Sacks. Williams portrays a physician who cares for victims of the 1920s encephalitis lethargica epidemic. The patients are revived after he experiments with a new medication determined to bring these people back to a normal state. Co-starring Robert DeNiro and Julie Kavner.
I loved the chance for pushing the envelope to change people’s perceptions of this.
Misery
Directed by William Goldman, produced by Rob Reiner and starring James Caan and Kathy Bates, King’s Misery is adapted into a major film. The film grosses $61.3 million on a budget of $20 million. King had refused to sell the novel’s adaptation rights because of how other works of his were mishandled in film translations, but eventually let Reiner do Misery after his 1986 adaptation of Stand by Me. In his collection, Stephen King Goes to the Movies, King states that Misery is one of his top ten favorite film adaptations.
