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The Mist
Frank Darabont talks about The Mist
In part:
"I am at this very moment writing the adaptation of THE MIST," Darabont tells Fango. The novella, featured in King's SKELETON CREW collection, concerns a group of strangers trapped inside a supermarket by a bevy of giant monsters that arrive in an unworldly fog. The story has been a favorite of fans for nearly two decades, including Darabont. "Depending on a few factors, it may well be the next movie I direct, possibly next year," he says. "Finally, my low-budget monster flick! And no, it will not be for television. There's been some confusion out there in geek land about that."
In part:
"I am at this very moment writing the adaptation of THE MIST," Darabont tells Fango. The novella, featured in King's SKELETON CREW collection, concerns a group of strangers trapped inside a supermarket by a bevy of giant monsters that arrive in an unworldly fog. The story has been a favorite of fans for nearly two decades, including Darabont. "Depending on a few factors, it may well be the next movie I direct, possibly next year," he says. "Finally, my low-budget monster flick! And no, it will not be for television. There's been some confusion out there in geek land about that."
Comments
Sounds like the perfect director to me!! This will be amazing. I just wish imdb would update thier site with the movie information!
Yet.
No schedule or anything, but it's the first indication that someone beyond Darabont is attached to the project.
Fango was there to grill [Thomas Jane] for some more specifics about THE MIST. “The script is done,” he tells us. “It has been for a bit now, and it looks like it might be over at Dimension—so there’s your scoop!” Asked if Darabont plans to lens the film in black and white (an approach that it was rumored he would take at one time, to recall the creature features of the ’50s), Jane says, “Nah, this is gonna be all-color and pretty amazing. I can’t wait.”
Variety reports that Darabont will direct his own adaptation of King's novella 'The Mist'.
Commenting, Darabont said: "It's a project Stephen King and I have been talking about doing for almost 20 years now. In fact, it almost was my first directing project many years ago, but I went classy and did 'The Shawshank Redemption' instead. It's time to get down and dirty and make a nasty little character-driven gut-punch horror movie."
The plan is for production to begin in the spring.
>> Source
Weinstein cited that dual fright dynamic as his prime attraction to the project.
"I'm a fan of films like 'Saw,' 'Wolf Creek' and 'Hostel,' but when I started Dimension, Stephen King and his ability to create real character-based thrills in 'Misery,' 'Carrie' and 'The Shining' was an inspiration for the kind of films I wanted to make," Weinstein said. "This is a great opportunity to get one of those classic properties and to work with Frank, who handles Stephen's work so well."
Weinstein now has three films based on King fiction. Dimension has wrapped "1408," based on King's short story, with Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack starring. "Hostel" helmer Eli Roth is working on an adaptation of "Cell," King's bestseller about a cell phone signal that makes zombies of everyone gabbing on mobiles at a particular cataclysmic moment in time.
Quote from Frank Darabont
"Doing THE MIST is a delight for me on a number of levels. For starters, I've always loved horror as a genre. Not so much the slasher thing, that got tired very quickly in my view, but from my earliest recollection I grew up loving movies that sought to scare the crap out of me, starting with the classic Universal monsters. Well, of course, that love of the genre is what led me to Stephen King's works in the first place, isn't it? So it's time to repay that debt and try to scare the crap out of an audience myself. With Steve's great story, and a little luck, I'm hoping to do just that.
“Another reason is, it's a project Stephen King and I have been talking about doing for almost twenty years now, since I first got to know and become friends with the man. In fact, it almost was my first directing project many years ago, but I went classy and did THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION instead. But THE MIST never went away; it's been lurking out there calling my name for a long, long time...and it's time to answer the call; it's time to get down and dirty and make a nasty little character-driven gut-punch horror movie. It's one of Stephen King's most legendary shorter works, very well known by his fans. Marsha in King’s office tells me it's the number one question asked by his fans when they write to his website (which she runs): when's THE MIST going to be made as a film? Well, I've always wanted to make my low-budget horror movie, so here we go. In a very real sense, I have to thank Danny Boyle, a man I've never met, but whose example in making 28 DAYS LATER really encouraged me. I saw that film, loved it, and thought: Well, why the hell not? Why not go make your scary little movie, shoot it fast, have some fun?
“That segues to the final reason I'm so looking forward to doing this. In a sense, doing a film like THE MIST is like putting myself into film school and learning a whole new approach to what I do. I had a foretaste of that earlier this year when I had the privilege of directing an episode of THE SHIELD for my friend Shawn Ryan. It was a seven-day shoot, fast-fast-fast, and I have to say there was something wildly liberating about shooting that way...it was an opportunity to put aside my reverence for Kubrickian elegance for a moment (and the painstaking approach it entails) and shoot fast and loose instead, do a real seat-of-the-pants style that embraces the ragged edges as virtues instead of avoiding them as sins. I'd say that if directing something like THE GREEN MILE is the equivalent of conducting a huge symphony orchestra playing Beethoven's Ninth in perfect tune, then directing something like THE SHIELD is the equivalent of jumping up on a small stage and playing with a small jazz combo and not caring if you miss a few notes -- in fact, missing some notes is kind of the point, isn't it? I want to take what I learned doing THE SHIELD and apply it to a feature film, and THE MIST is the perfect venue for that kind of in-your-face, in-the-moment energy. So one might say that if I've been going to film school this year, and if THE SHIELD was my mid-term, then THE MIST will be my class thesis. I can always go back to being the elegant guy later.”
Will you be changing the setting of The Mist to a prison, so you can go for the Stephen King prison hat trick?
Darabont: [laughs] Well, you know, when you think about it, that supermarket does become kind of a prison. Maybe I’m drawn to those enclosed, pressure-cooker stories of Steve’s!
The Mist is a novella, but it reads very fast.
Darabont: It gallops along, doesn’t it? The movie will as well; there’s not going to be the same kind of pace that either Shawshank or Green Mile had. It doesn’t warrant it or call for it. It’ll be a pretty fast and furious narrative, really. And I’m certain the shortest film I’ve made to date.
And very different from any of the other movies you’ve directed – it’s much more of a standard horror film than any of your other movies.
Darabont: Absolutely. But thankfully there’s a core, that wonderful array of Stephen King characters, which is his strength. There’s a lot of meat there for the actors and the director.
I’ve always thought of it as Stephen King’s Lord of the Flies, because it’s less about the monsters – which are important, certainly. If you’re going to do a horror movie you might as well have some really cool monsters – but it’s more about the disintegration of civilization in that supermarket, how everything breaks down for those people in there. From that standpoint it’s a fascinating story to tell.
Where does The Mist put Fahrenheit 451? Is it not happening, or happening later?
Darabont: While I’m doing The Mist – which is going to be a really quick project; it’s very low budget, very fast, not unlike what Danny Boyle did in 28 Days Later, which I found very inspiring in terms of, hell, just go out and make a movie and have fun with it –
Are you going to shoot it on DV or on film?
Darabont: Still working out those details, actually. I think on film, but with a few little tricks up my sleeve.
But while I’m doing this process, I’m going to be keeping my eye on the ball of Fahrenheit 451. I’m going to be doing a lot of long range prep work on that while I’m making The Mist. That’s hopefully going to go next right after Mist is done.
What’s the timeline on The Mist?
Darabont: It’s going to be fast and furious, pal. I just started prepping and we’re going to be shooting maybe February. When I say fast, I ain’t kidding around.
Has casting started?
Darabont: We’re starting casting right now; we’re starting this week. We’re starting to get out there and look around and see who’s out there and who’s available.
Dimension is going to let you do a grown up version of The Mist? They’re not going to make you fill the film with teeny bopper actors from TV shows?
Darabont: I think they’re legitimately really super excited about this. Unlike some other folks I have spoken to, they’re really embracing the darker and edgier choices. Bob Weinstein is being tremendously supportive, and that makes me very happy.
Fahrenheit 451 almost doesn’t need to be modernized – except that maybe the whole idea of books as the source of information is becoming outdated.
Darabont: The thing about all this technology is that there isn’t any of it that can’t be monitored and controlled. When people say that books will no longer be relevant in the future, that’s ludicrous to me because it’s the only place you’ll be able to hide anything. Will you be able to hide it in your computer? If things keep going the way they are, all of that will be analyzed, scanned and controlled. You’re not going to be able to use this technology to hide things. So where do you hide things? In the pages of the book. And as Bradbury’s great, poetic point is, the ultimate hiding place is in the human mind. To me that’s about as timeless and relevant as any statement you can make.
Look for the full interview next week, where we talk about Darbont's disappointment with how his script for Branagh's Frankenstein was treated, his thoughts on screenwriters in the Hollywood foodchain, and his big praise for Pan's Labyrinth.
"I have an e-mail from Frank right here," Jane told UGO this week. "Why don't we open it and see what's going on with The Mist? He says that he just heard my deal closed today and he's happy and looking forward to working with me."
Worried about The Mist now to say the least. Thomas Jane just seems to have bad project karma. Everthing he has been is problematic in one respect or another. The frustration is that each of these projects has a glimmer of brilliance in it drowned out by ineptitude elsewhere. I actually like Jane, hard to tell I know, but his attachment to The Mist is bad mojo from my perspective.
Good luck to Darabont, he's gonna need it.
The film, which will star Thomas Jane, is also lining up some behind-the-scenes talent. Fangoria.com reports that "famed monster house KNB EFX is on board to handle all of the creaturefest's practical FX, with the company's Greg Nicotero also serving as the film's 2nd-unit director."
“The Mist” will be directed by Frank Darabont. He made “The Green Mile” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” which also were based on works by King.
The movie will star Thomas Jane, whose previous work includes “The Punisher,” “61*” and “Deep Blue Sea.”
It is being produced by Dimension Films, part of The Weinstein Company. News of “The Mist” being made in Shreveport was confirmed by Weinstein spokesperson Liz Biber.
The majority of it will be shot in StageWorks of Louisiana, a soundstage and movie production facility in downtown Shreveport.
“Having just completed an extensive renovation, StageWorks is very excited to have a high-profile production like ‘The Mist’ utilize the facility,” said Mike Moorhead, StageWork’s managing partner. “This particular project has a large and very elaborate set design, and we feel like the size and amenities offered by the StageWorks facility played an important role in attracting the project to Shreveport.”
King’s story is about a town in Maine enveloped by a supernatural mist. Mysterious creatures begin attacking humans. A small group of people get trapped in a supermarket and fight to defend themselves and their sanity.
“We’re real excited about it. We’ve been working with them for several months now, helping them identify locations,” said Arlena Acree, director of film, media and entertainment for the city of Shreveport. Her office continues to field requests from production companies exploring opportunities to shoot here.
Two other films are slated to begin shooting next week: the sequel to “Harold & Kumar” starring Kal Penn and John Cho and “The Last Lullaby” directed by Shreveporter Jeffrey Goodman.
“The Cleaner,” starring Samuel L. Jackson and produced by Millennium Films, is scheduled to begin before the end of the month.
Production of “Microwave Park” has been postponed, but Millennium expects to make the feature here this year.
Since October 2005, 14 film and TV projects have been shot in northwest Louisiana, including a dozen in Shreveport and Bossier City.
Andre Braugher and Laurie Holden are joining Thomas Jane in The Mist, Dimension Films' adaptation of the Stephen King story being directed by Frank Darabont, who also produces.
The script, written by Darabont, is set after a strange storm blows through a Maine town and its citizens are attacked by deadly creatures. A group of townfolks barricade themselves in a supermarket and struggle for survival.
"(Holden) was my leading lady in 'The Majestic,' and she is stupendous, talented and gorgeous," Darabont told The Hollywood Reporter. "She plays a very key role as one the people trapped in this existential Stephen King nightmare. On the good side of the aisle, she is the female lead of the movie."
"(Braugher) is Thomas Jane's neighbor, a high-powered attorney who has a weekend house in Maine. They have more of an adversarial relationship," Darabont added.
Shooting is scheduled to begin in mid- to late February in Shreveport, La.