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The “unfilmable” 2017 adaptation Stephen King wanted to direct himself: “We’re in good hands here”
Stephen King briefly considered directing an adaptation of his novel Gerald's Game, a story widely considered unfilmable due to its restrictive setting of a woman trapped in a bed. Producer Mick Garris revealed that King expressed interest in directing the project with Garris producing, though the discussions never progressed further. This is particularly notable given King's disastrous experience directing Maximum Overdrive in 1986, which he himself has acknowledged as a failure.
A college student named Mike Flanagan read Gerald's Game in the late 1990s and was struck by both the challenge and necessity of adapting it for film. Flanagan eventually became one of the industry's most prominent King adaptors and fulfilled his long-held ambition by directing the Netflix adaptation, which starred Carla Gugino. Released in 2017, the film successfully tackled what many considered impossible to film, earning recognition for its execution despite its challenging source material and disturbing imagery.
In short
- Stephen King briefly considered directing but abandoned the idea of adapting Gerald's Game
- Mike Flanagan read the novel at college and later made it as a Netflix film
- The 2017 adaptation proved the supposedly unfilmable novel could be brought to screen
Explained simply
Gerald's Game is a 1981 horror novel by Stephen King centred on a woman trapped on a bed during a remote holiday with her husband. The restrictive setting and psychological nature of the story have long made it seem impossible to translate to film, as most of the drama occurs in the protagonist's mind rather than through external action.
Stephen King briefly entertained the idea of directing an adaptation himself, according to producer Mick Garris, though the discussions never progressed further. Instead, filmmaker Mike Flanagan, who had been captivated by the novel since reading it in the late 1990s, directed a Netflix version of Gerald's Game in 2017, starring Carla Gugino.
King's consideration is noteworthy given his previous experience directing a film: Maximum Overdrive in 1986, which he has publicly acknowledged as a failure. Flanagan's adaptation tackled what many considered an impossible challenge, with the resulting film gaining recognition for how it handled the difficult source material.