At Comic-Con 2007, Frank Darabont premiered footage from his upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist, and everyone (including myself) was not impressed. Stephen King adaptations are tough. They can either be really good, or really bad (heck, with The Shining, they made one of each).
Darabont definitely knows how to do it right. Find me one person who hated The Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile. Even my old man loved both of those flicks, and he’s a tough audience. But one of the things I’ve loved about all of Darabont’s films thus far was the amazing cinematography. It seems like he’s chosen to forgo the extensive set-ups to shoot most of The Mist with steadicam, utilizing both techniques and the crew of The Shield (if I remember correctly). But is this an experiment or a movie?
The new trailer is pretty impressive/intense (with exception of some of the computer generated effects) and features Clint Mansell’s awesome score from The Fountain soundtrack. Check it out after the jump, and share your thoughts.
You can also watch The Mist trailer in High Definition at Yahoo Movies. The Mist hits theaters on November 21st 2007.
August 30th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
It’s hard to tell by a trailer but it didn’t look too bad. Most of these movies usually have a stupid ending that ruins the whole thing.
August 30th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
I think it looks really good, actually! I like “survival horror” and I like the idea of disparate people having to team up and come together, despite differences, to fight a common enemy. Further, the religious differences here look to be a good mix.
Obviously there’s no way to tell how good or bad the film will be just from this trailer, but at the very least, I wasn’t totally discouraged (as I feared I would be).
I agree with A.J. The trick here is the ending. It’s too easy to do a real let-down of an ending. Obviously they could just end it the way King did in the original story, but the devil is in the details.
August 30th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
the CGI looks horriable and the mist is way to thin. in the book you cant see infront of your face let alone make out the parking lot I hope they use more animatronics but it does not look like they will plus the shot of the mist rolling in is horriable i am suprised becuase and it looks like they are focusing way to much on the crazy lady P.S most God fearing people alredy know Jesus paid for their sin’s thats what the “good book” say’s …unless she is a witch of course then its a differant type of book she is reading pegan not biblical. I have read the story one of my favorites by King the trailer was a let down.
August 30th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
p.s forgive my spell Peagan? anyhoot i guess that would bannish me to the mist for sacrafice :( but alas..since it looks more like a light haze (notice the shot of the army jeep in the parking lot after the mist had fully decended) i should be ok cuz i can see where im running and what’s two feet infront of me.:) j/j
August 30th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
This looks nothing like the Darabont that made those elegant films (i.e. Shawshank & Green Mile). The cinematography here is cheaper looking than that of The Shield but the trailer is perfectly edited.
August 31st, 2007 at 5:00 am
I didn’t *hate* SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION but can’t understand all the fuss. It’s an okay film but its legion of fans who watch it with religious fervor puzzle me.
August 31st, 2007 at 11:55 am
Looks OK I guess but it’s tough to compare it to Darabont’s other two (great) King adaptations. Plus even the Mist short story was really not that great. It was moody and atmospheric, kind of how I felt this trailer looked, but the ending left a lot to be desired. Based on this trailer I bet this movie will kind of go on too long and wind up being mostly people fighting with one another in a grocery store. Oh, and the CGI could easily still not be complete… I think a lot of times trailer have earlier versions of CG material that get improved by the time the movie itself is released.
August 31st, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I think this movie looks terrible. The trailer looks like a bad Sci-Fi channel movie. This movie also looks alot like “Storm Of The Century” to me. I hope the ending isn’t stupid. It’s supposed to be different from the book, but i just hope it’s not like “IT”. “It” was a great movie until the end.
I have more thought on it here http://therecshow.com/2007/08/31/blinded-by-the-mist/#comment-947
September 3rd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
The Mist is one of my favorite shorts from Stephen King and for years I’ve been wishing someone would attempt to make a movie based on the story. I agree that King is very hard to bring to screen well…but if Frank Darabont can’t do it…ain’t noone gonna do it. While the Green Mile and Shawshank were not horror flicks, they were about getting to the heart of human emotion/reaction…and in truth, that is what The Mist is all about. It’s more about the reaction and interaction of the people trapped in the store than it is about the creatures outside. So, I say….bring it on….it’s gonna be awesome!
October 18th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I just saw a the mist in a prescreening. It was pretty good, not as good as you would think. The story left alot of loose ends and the plot was predictable. Now , I didn’t see the finished product, but it was damn near done. the director was there and he said was 98% complete. Some of the CGI needs to be finished and the music refined. Overall it was a good movie, but not as good as I had hoped.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
i justread your post about seeing the mist right on way cool you said it had loose ends the story is a giant loose end to though in a way have you read the story ? if so did it stick to its ending? it looked rushed to me in the preview but i will still go see it also do you remember the running time?
October 18th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Yeah, I read the story, but it was so long ago I don’t remember the end. The runtime was just shy of 2 hours. The movie did seem rushed thats why I think there are so many things left unfinished, but wasn’t this a short story anyway? mayby thats why it feels that way. The director said we were the first people to see the movie. Bob Weinstien ( head of Dimension films)was there and gave a little speach about how King always gives them a surefired hit.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
right on thanks for the info are you in the industry your self? im about 40 minutes above L.A myself and plugging along done some work on the lot’s i have a couple of screenplays im shopping do you write or direct or work behind the scenes at all?
October 19th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Nah, I don’t work for the industry (wish I did though always wanted to). They were having a convention for theatre owners and VIPS and they wan’t full theatres so they handed out passes to 100 people or so. There was also a new denzel movie that he directed too. A queen latefa ( I don’t know how to spell her name) movie and a john cusac movie which I also called grace is gone about him and his kid going to disney world after his wife dies serving in Iraq….. No I don’t live in cali this all happened in orlando all this week at downtown disney. I am a orlando native who happened to meet so big people by being in the right place.
October 19th, 2007 at 11:32 am
cool well you always can Orlando has a budding film community stay fresh thanks for the info
November 5th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Quite fine. I have taken your opinions into account and have decided… to let my friend see it first. I am twelve, and am quite versed in pseudonyms, as you can see from the clever anagram of Stephen King above, but my dad says he will take me and him, if I will buy the tickets. My friend, who wishes to be known here as Gines K. Phent (yet another anagram of the above author), will be seeing it soon, and I can only hope that he provides me with an honest review.
Yours knowingly,
Kegen T. Spihn (pronounced Keegan Tee Spine)
November 10th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Well, I don’t know if I’m willing to make any assumptions based on trailers - I’ve noticed that many trailers incorporate footage that never makes it into the movie itself. I DO know that when “The Fog” came out, I’d hoped it was an adaptation of this short story, which is one of my favorite short stories he ever wrote.
Unfortunately, most Stephen King films can NEVER in any way compete with his writing. People watching his movies should know that automatically.
I was really ticked off by Rose Red and 1408, but not enough that I’ll skip checking this one out…
I’ll be back to comment again later!
November 14th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
I just wanted to point out that you could not shoot a typical drama with any thicker mist. In a short story, the writer can describe what it FEELS like to be a character, what the character can TOUCH. In a film, you have eyes and ears only. So, maybe someone could have shot this film with thicker mist, but a director who’s other King adaptations have been prison drama, is not really interested in how to make an audience engage in a film when they cannot see the character except perhaps in extreme close ups…
November 25th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Hello everyone. Digital Effects & movie buff here. Read the story originally from “Skeleton Crew”. Thought the short story was pretty good. Wish Stephen King had a little more information about the “Arrow Head Project” and the ending needed some work, but isn’t that Stephen King for you? Always keeping you thinking in the darkest part of your mind.
Saw the movie. My opinion: Thought it was very good…UP UNTIL THE END!!! C’mon writer! If your not going to have an unstressful ending, then at least use the ending in the original short story!
In this day and age, there are not many good movies coming out anymore because almost all ideas have been done 3x over already. And I know people in the entertainment industry need a paycheck so you need to be making movies, but make it really worth your while and take your time and develop a really good movie…from start to finish!
Again, my opinion :)
November 28th, 2007 at 2:42 am
In my humble opinion Darabont has been the only director that ever made any Stephen King Novel feel anywhere near to close to any novel he has ever written. Also of all the S.K. Novels that I’ve read I must admit that, “The Mist.” Has got to be one of my most favorite of all time! Yeah! let alone that it is one of the FOUR SUPERB NOVELLAS1 “The Body,” which became, “Stand By Me.” The Movie, Then Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, “Which became the Shawshank Redemptiom!”.. “Apt Pupil!” Which was a controversial film in it’s own right! And Finally1, DURABONT Decides to do, “The MIST,” My all time favorite next to, “The Shining!” I Still think Darabont will do, “that,” better than any body else someday! The mist is Great! right from the beginning!
The end of the the world did not come with a big bang, or any type of tumultuous effort……. It came in the form of a quiet fog which spread quietly acrross a lake, one quiet Sunday afternoon…. That is just KOWABUNGA! =o)
November 28th, 2007 at 3:01 am
I just hope Darabont doesn’t make this his first S.K. FLOP! I think that is pretty hard to do seeing his previous movie efforts no? But you can never know.. Shawshank Redemption was a Novella made into a movie, The Green Mile was a S.K. Trial of an internet novel… The Shining, However was a full on novella!… The Stanley Hotel that it is based on still to this day is Majorly proven to be totally a haunted place IXNAY on the WIXNAY NO? WELLKOWABUNGA AND A HALF DON’T YOUI THINK?
January 18th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
if the rights of this film “the mist” is available for india please contact us
March 20th, 2008 at 6:43 am
I agree totally… The Mist was one of the better horror movies of 2008. It looks like Blockbuster has a $1.99 coupon for any rental on their cool THE MIST dvd release site http://www.themistmoviedvd.com including a fun game to play. It looks like The Mist releases on Tuesday, March 25th. If you like Stephen King and horror movies, you have to see this one.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:50 am
It was by far the best movie ever. Even if it does have the worst ending ever. I will not tell you what happens; you need to see the movie.