Summary
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Mike Flanagan mourns the cancellation of the Revival adaptation, call it the “Project that got off“Due to his dark script and Doctor Sleeps box office underperformance.
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Despite previous failed attempts, now may be the perfect time for Flanagan’s adaptation due to his success with King adaptations.
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Studio support for the dark ending of King’s book may be a hurdle, but with current interest in Lovecraftian horror, a Revival Adaptation may still occur.
Although his work continues on other adaptations of the author’s bibliography, Mike Flanagan has some emotional thoughts about these Revival Cancellation of adoption. King’s 2014 novel followed the life stories of Charles Jacobs and Jamie Morton, the former of whom begins the book as a priest who develops into a man obsessed with experiments involving electrical healing, while the latter begins as a young boy fascinated Through his abilities that often gets involved in Jacob’s new experiments. Some attempts have been made in a Revival Movie adaptation, first by New mutants Josh Boone, before Flanagan joined in early 2020.
During his Echoes from Hill House: A Haunting Panel at FAN EXPO Canada, why Screen Rant was a media partner, Screen RantJoe Deckelmeier asked Flanagan what unfinished projects he still looks back on because he wants to do them. Flanagan pointed out Revival like theProject that got off“Praise his writing as he really is”Dark“And true to King’s 2014 novel, and also explains that his shelving was partly due to Doctor Sleeps underperformance, although continued hope to get the rights back to the book at some point. See what Flanagan shared below:
Absolutely. I wrote a revival script that I love. Man, is it dark. We’ve reviewed the ending and, if you’ve read it, it’s one of the most uncomfortably chilling endings King’s ever done — including Pet Sematary. It’s dark, but I love the script. When people ask me what is the phantom limb, what is the project that went away, it will always be revival. I wrote it for Warner Brothers right after we shot Doctor Sleep, but Doctor Sleep didn’t work at the box office. I’m extremely proud of the movie, and I hear from fans that it seems to be growing, but it didn’t perform to the studio’s expectations. And so many of the projects that we had at Warner Brothers died as a result, and Revival was one of them.
I’ve been mourning it ever since, but I don’t have the right to it. It’s gone. And Steve, very smart, did not like to saddle the same filmmaker with more than one thing because it means that something does not continue. There are other Stephen King properties that I’m attached to that took precedence over this one, and the choice was to pursue those or to try to get revival somewhere else. We’ll let it go, but I’ll always pine for this movie. Maybe it comes back around. You never know with these things.
Why now is the right time for Flanagan’s revival adaptation
With both previous attempts to make a Revival The movie being no different, it may seem like the King novel will never make its way to the screen, although there are a variety of reasons why now would be the perfect time for Flanagan to get a chance to do so. One of the biggest reasons is the fact He remains firmly planted in the world of king adaptationsNot only with his upcoming Life of Chuck movie, but also in developing a television adaptation of the Dark Tower novels. Although Doctor Sleep May have underperformed at the box office, both it and Play Gerald’s game Garnered rave reviews.
Another reason why Flanagan might get another shot at making it Revival Is The latest resurgence in Lovecraftian horror On both big and small screens. Horror streaming service Shudder has notably made a home for multiple titles directly adapting the late author’s work, including the Heather Graham-led Suitable meat and Nicolas Cage – starring Color out of place. James Wan is also currently at work developing an adaptation of The Call of CthulhuShowing an ongoing mainstream interest in the genre.
Related
As noted by Flanagan both above and in previous comments, the biggest hurdle a Revival The movie will face is in a studio being ready to recover as dark of an ending as King’s book. But, granted The adaptation of King The garbage remains one of the more iconic Despite its bleak finale, and other recent horror movies subverting the happy ending trope, it’s sure to be a studio willing to take the risk. Granted Flanagan has a busy schedule with other projects, including the next one Exorcist Movie, he may have to wait for sometime to try again.