Stephen King Prefers One Movie Ending To His Own Story
The film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist has a bit of a different ending compared to the novel, and according to SYFY, King prefers the movie ending to the ending he came up with for the book, telling director Frank Darabont that he wishes he had thought of it first.
Stephen King approves of the ending to The Mist, which is much darker than the one in his novel.
Frank Darabont was excited to make The Mist, but he always knew that the novella ending would never be good enough for viewers. It’s simply too open-ended. In the book, the main character, David (Thomas Jane), his son, and a few others drive off into the mist, hoping to find a safer place to reside. That may be a good way to end a movie when you’re already planning a sequel, but The Mist was set to stand alone.
Darabont changed the ending drastically for the movie adaptation, and the outcome was a much more dramatic conclusion to the story. In the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist, David ends up killing all the remaining survivors (including his own son) before stepping out into the mist to find a military tank there to evacuate those in need.
It’s healthy to occasionally stray from Hollywood’s fascination with a happy ending.
Stephen King explaining why he likes the ending of The Mist
Thomas Jane‘s character, David, is slapped with the pain of knowing that if he had just waited a few minutes longer, the fate of those he killed could have been much brighter. It’s a rather macabre ending that Stephen King says is needed every once in a while.
King stated that “every generation needs a movie … where nothing turns out well in the end.” It’s healthy to occasionally stray from Hollywood’s fascination with a “happy ending.” He went on to say that The Mist was “so anti-Hollywood — anti-everything, really … It was nihilistic. I liked that.”
With Stephen King’s approval for the alternative ending to The Mist, Darabont now had to find a way to get approval from the studio. Studio approval turned out to be somewhat simple when Darabont stated the difference in funding needed to shoot the ending he wanted versus reshooting a more “likable” ending.
Stephen King’s approval of The Mist came years before fans accepted the bleak ending, but now it’s considered a horror classic.
Fan approval of the different endings took much longer. When The Mist first debuted, critics were rather harsh on it. However, years later, critics consider the movie to be one of the best horror flicks to date. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any bad reviews on the film. Rotten Tomatoes even gives The Mist a 73 percent positive rating, which we all know isn’t easy to achieve with the picky film-reviewing site.
If you’re unfamiliar with the story behind The Mist, you’ve already spoiled the ending for yourself. However, that doesn’t mean the movie isn’t worth a watch. The ride to the end is worth the time spent watching the film, and the looming question, “What is the mist?” will easily drive your engagement throughout the movie.
You won’t want to invite the kids to view this flick with you. Stephen King’s books aren’t typically suitable for children, and the movie adaptation of The Mist follows suit. The Mist is rated “R” with a runtime of just over two hours. You can find the film streaming on Peacock with a subscription to the channel.
