Movies - TV
Stephen King Only Directed One Movie – And It’s A Film He Hates
By CHRIS EVANGELISTA
Despite many of his books being best-sellers, not all Stephen King adaptations became box office hits. King eventually had the idea that he should direct his own adaptation.
When producer Dino De Laurentiis got the rights to King’s short story “Trucks,” the film’s production designer, Giorgio Postiglione, suggested the author be the one to direct it.
According to the book “Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide,” King was given $70,000 to make the movie. Unfortunately, the author didn’t know much about directing.
King was also battling a severe drug problem and working with a crew that mostly spoke Italian. The result would be “Maximum Overdrive,” a film about killer trucks.
When “Maximum Overdrive” opened in 1986, it was heavily criticized and flopped at the box office. While he initially tried to defend the movie, he would later disown it.
King told Cinmefantastique, “I didn’t do a very good job of directing it.” According to “Creepshows,” he also shared, “I can’t see myself doing anything like this again ...”
However, the author doesn’t entirely rule out ever directing again in “Hollywood’s Stephen King,” calling his time working on “Maximum Overdrive” a “learning experience.”