Just recently, the small budget horror movie OCULUS hit theaters and made has grossed six times it’s budget in just a month in theaters which means director Mike Flanagan is now a hot commodity. With several potential projects on the horizon, Flanagan has elected to adapt a Stephen King novel as his next project. And he has chosen one of King’s lesser known novels as well.
Flanagan will adapt King’s 1992 novel GERALD”S GAME, according to Deadline. Released the same year as DOLORES CLAIBORNE, GERALD’S GAME is a unique story that spends almost it’s entire length with just a single character.
Gerald’s Game revolves around a seemingly harmless contest between a married couple in a remote retreat. It escalates to become a harrowing fight for survival and wife Jessie must confront long-buried demons within her own mind — and possibly lurking in the shadows of her seemingly empty house.
Both GERALD’S GAME and DOLORES CLAIBORNE were linked by a solar eclipse that occurs during the plots of both stories. DOLORES CLAIBORNE was made into a movie back in 1995 starring Kathy Bates in the title role. GERALD’S GAME is truly a psychological horror movie with almost everything occurring in the mind of Jessie. How this would translate to the big screen remains to be seen.
Flanagan made the following comments about the film.
“In the tradition of Misery and Dolores Claiborne, Gerald’s Game is one of the most intense and compelling novels I’ve ever read, and this has been a dream project for many years. Trevor [Macy] and I are very excited to help translate that experience for an audience.”
Flanagan has already written the screenplay for GERALD’S GAME with partner Jeff Howard and the film is expected to be released sometime next year. As a huge Stephen King fan, I have to say this is one of his books I never expected to see turned into a movie. With Jessie’s hallucinations of a horrific creature known as The Space Cowboy, GERALD’S GAME has a lot of potential to be a disturbing horror movie. Hopefully Flanagan does right by this one.
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