Stephen King's novella THE MIST has already been made into a phenomenal flick by writer/director Frank Darabont back in 2007 (ten years ago!?). Now SPIKE TV is bring the story back to the screen by way of a 10-episode (first season) on-going TV series.
SPIKE'S THE MIST showrunner Christian Torpe recently spoke with Stephen King fan-site Lilja's Library and had mucho to say about the upcoming series, including Stephen King's thoughts on the pilot episode!
Christian Torpe on getting Stephen King's reaction:
I have – and no words can explain the feeling of waking up and seeing an email from Stephen King in your inbox. It is as exciting and as scary as reading ”It” when you were 12. He was such a gentleman, incredibly generous in terms of the changes I have made. He has also read and seen the pilot and thought it was ”pretty damn good”. Hoping and praying he will continue to think that about the rest of the show!
Christian Torpe on THE MIST ending:
I loved [Darabont's ending]. It was dark and ironic and brutal. I also loved King’s original ending though. Darabont’s was the political allegory, whereas King’s kept the story in existential metaphor which was beautiful. To me it is not a question of which ending is the best, they are different and it makes me happy that both versions exist. It’s not either/or for me. Where our ending will land I obviously can’t tell you but I can say that it is absolutely one of the places where the show communicates with the movie and the book!
Christian Torpe on showing/hiding the Mist monsters:
We ended up with a good 1600+ VFX shots in season one. That is A LOT. Majority of these are shots is the mist itself though. We didn’t want it too feel too smoke-machine-y so adding a sense of movement to it, an organic quality without going to magical territory, is something we have worked a lot with. As for what is in the mist and how much we see – you’ll have to wait and see!
I would suggest reading the full interview where Torpe goes into such topics as getting inspiration from Frank Darabont's version, getting involved in the show, and plans for the future of SPIKE'S THE MIST.
You can Christian Torpe's full interview RIGHT HERE.
Christian Torpe