Stephen King’s stories have proven to be fertile ground for both big- and small-screen adaptations, and now The Mist is headed to television as an ongoing series.
The announcement was made by Dimension Television, the small-screen division of Dimension Films, which is also responsible for the recent, successful Scream TV series for MTV. Christian Torpe, who writes the hit Danish series RITA and received accolades for the screenplay he penned for the 2014 drama Stille hjerte, will script the new series.
Along with receiving King’s blessing, the series based on The Mist is expected to draw inspiration from both the original novel penned by King and the 2007 movie directed by Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead, The Shawshank Redemption) and starring Thomas Jane (Hung) that was based on the story.
Originally published in 1980 as part of the Dark Forces anthology, The Mist is set in a small town in Maine that suddenly finds itself enveloped in a thick fog. The residents of the town soon discover that the mist is filled with all manner of terrifying, monstrous creatures, and after taking refuge in a market, they’re beset by both the horrors in the mist and their personal demons as the pressure mounts. Darabont’s film diverged from the original story significantly in its conclusion, but is otherwise regarded as a relatively faithful adaptation of King’s novella.
“The terror and drama in Stephen King’s novella are so vast that we felt serialized television is the best place to explore them in greater depth,” said Bob Weinstein, co-chairman The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films, in a statement accompanying the announcement. “With this show, Christian has created a fascinating band of characters and a story with infinite scares.”
Along with being adapted for the 2007 film, The Mist also served as inspiration for several well-known video games and their subsequent franchises, including Silent Hill and Half-Life.
