Emilio Estevez Wrote His Own Sequel To Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive

Stephen King has long been deathly afraid of vehicles and car crashes, something he has spoken openly about. His fear was certainly the inspiration for his novel "Christine," a story about a sentient, killer 1958 Chrysler Fury. A young child is run down in "Pet Sematary," and a car wreck lays up the protagonist of "Misery." There's a killer car in "From a Buick 8," and a ghost car in "Riding the Bullet." King lived out one of his worst nightmares in 1999 when he was actually run down by a 1985 Dodge Caravan and grievously injured. He wrote "Dreamcatcher" while under the influence of painkillers following the accident. 

In 1973, King also published a short story called "Trucks," which took place at a remote truck stop where all the semi trucks came to life and deliberately started killing people. In 1986, "Trucks" was adapted into the feature film "Maximum Overdrive," which featured a giant goblin-like truck and starred Emilio Estevez. It was King's first (and, to date, only) directorial effort. It had a lot of heavy metal on the soundtrack. 

Despite King's name all over the project, "Maximum Overdrive" was panned by critics and tanked at the box office. King was nominated for Worst Director at that year's Razzie Awards, and Estevez for Worst Actor. With such a terrible reception, it's no wonder King didn't want to direct again. This, despite "Maximum Overdrive" becoming something of a cult hit in recent years. Its initial failure was an aberration in King's career, whose feature adaptations up to that point had all been notable hits. 

Estevez has seen the cult grow over the years and admits to feeling that the world might now be ready for a "Maximum Overdrive" sequel. On the Happy. Sad. Confused. podcast, Estevez said that, during the SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, he wrote a script for "Maximum Overdrive 2," despite not talking to King, and despite not having the rights to the property. It was just a gonzo passion project for Estevez, who has written several of his own movies.

Recall that one of the issues surrounding the SAG-AFTRA strike of 2023 is that studios were threatening to use computerized scanning technology and AI emulators to recreate actors' performances from scratch. Using such tech would eliminate the need for extras and, in some cases, lead actors. Striking SAG members wanted to make sure that they wouldn't be replaced by machines. Those ideas were very much on Estevez's mind when he started writing "Maximum Overdrive 2." If machines were to come to life in 2025 — and bear the same murderous impulses as in 1986 — surely their plan of attack would be far more threatening. And more insane, by his estimation. As he said: 

"With the advent of more computer technology and A.I. and all of that, I started to imagine what a sequel to 'Maximum Overdrive' would look like. And during the strike, I wrote one. [...] I started page one, I started an idea, now on I'm on page 10, I'm on page 20, now it's 50 pages, and I can't stop. Dino De Laurentiis owns the rights to 'Maximum Overdrive.' I created an insane world." 

Estevez went on to say that the sequel would follow his character from the 1986 film, Bill, now a proud owner of a quality truck stop diner. Guy Fieri would play himself in the movie and would stop by Bill's diner to film an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" when the high-tech machine apocalypse restarts. Estevez felt his script was "b****in'," and hoped that he could actually get it made. Sadly, the De Laurentiis Company still owned the rights to the original movie, and they shut him down. Estevez reported that De Laurentiis said, "'Nope. We're not interested. We're going to pursue our own thing.' I was like, 'Okay.'"

It's likely that the company still wanted to develop the "Maximum Overdrive" remake with director Joe Hill. But time will tell if that project ever makes it off the ground.