Director Frank Darabont tells SCI FI Wire that in his big-screen do-up of Stephen King's novella The Mist (in theaters Nov. 21), he saw fit to do away with the original, ambiguous ending. Before you get your knickers in a knot, know that King not only signed off on the change, he freakin' loved it. "It is the most shocking ending ever," he says, apparently having mastered the art of Trumpian overstatement, "and there should be a law passed stating that anybody who reveals the last five minutes of this film should be hung from their neck until dead." — Ben Katner
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George Clooney is in talks to direct Leonardo DiCaprio in Farragut North, an adaptation of an upcoming Broadway play loosely based on Howard Dean's 2004! Presidential! Election! Campaign!.... Also per Variety, Tobe Hooper will direct a feature film take on Stephen King's From a Buick 8 (shop Amazon).... Will Smith is a global media mogul in Empire, a drama to be helmed by Michael Mann.... Director Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket) will take Will Ferrell to the Land of the Lost, Sleestaks and all, in the big-screen redo of the children's TV series, says Reuters.
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Could the third time be the charm? Being an eternal optimist when it comes to TV shows I love, I certainly hope so. For the third season in a row, the show I’ve picked as my favorite pilot of the fall season is on ABC, and once again, after two consecutive seasons of my pick failing to make the grade, this show’s projected success is far from a slam dunk. But let me tell you why I believe, despite all logical skepticism to the contrary, that the dazzling “forensic fairy tale” called Pushing Daisies has a shot at making it.First, here’s why my earlier picks didn’t pan out. For one thing, both shows — Invasion in 2005, The Nine in 2006 — had the mixed fortune of being scheduled directly after Lost. (As we’ve learned, the Lost viewing experience is so intense and its fan base so obsessed that it’s pure folly to put any show, especially a demanding one, after Lost.) Both shows were also exceedingly dark in tone, whereas Pushing Daisies...
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Many Dark Tower fans have deemed it a Mission: Impossible, so.... Per the Hollywood Reporter, Lost boss J.J. Abrams and Stephen King are in talks to bring the Dark Tower novels to the screen. Thus far, it is unclear whether the project would definitely be theatrical, given the sprawling breadth of the seven-book saga, or a TV mini.... The Departed's Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg will reunite in The Fighter, a boxing film based on the life of "Irish" Mickey Ward (Wahlberg) and his brother/trainer (Damon).... Per Variety, Mark Ruffalo is Adrien Brody's big bro and fellow con in The Brothers Bloom.
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Per the Hollywood Reporter, Andre Braugher and Laurie Holden have been cast in The Mist, director Frank Darabont's adaptation of the Stephen King chiller about a small Maine town marauded by deadly creatures in the wake of a strange storm. (Wasn't that a Dean Koontz story, too?).... Harvey Keitel is in final talks to join The Ministers, a crime thriller about a female NYPD detective (One Life to Live alumna Florencia Lozano) out to avenge her father's murder at the hands of what sounds like a cult. Keitel would play another cop — and hopefully one who keeps his pants on.
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