Movies - TV
Stephen King Has Repeatedly Apologized For His Most Bonkers Movie
By BJ COLANGELO
Stephen King’s "Maximum Overdrive" was adapted from his short story “Trucks” and was King’s first and only attempt at directing. While the film has developed a cult following of those who love its anti-King nature and campy humor, it was panned by critics as King’s worst adaptation and is also a project that King himself isn’t proud of.
One reason was that according to King, he was “coked out of his mind” during the film’s production. While the writer is now sober, he has always been open about his history with substance abuse, including a cocaine addiction between 1978-1986, which fits into when “Maximum Overdrive” was made.
Camera assistant Silvia Giulietti also attributed the movie’s failure to the language barrier between the mostly Italian and Mexican crew and King, as well as his lack of experience as a director. She explained how “he didn’t know where to put the cameras” and while he “[...] had a very strong idea about the movie, [...] he was not able to translate it into images.”
Other people involved with the movie also regretted making it, including lead Emilia Estevez who said that whenever he reconnected with King, the writer asked, “'[...] can you forgive me for that?'" However, the biggest onset disaster was an accident involving Italian cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi.
In a freak accident, a wayward lawnmower crashed into a block of wood that was holding the camera and sent splinters flying everywhere. One of them ended up in Nannuzzi’s eye which he ended up losing, he sued King for $18 million in damages and the two eventually settled out of court.