1. Dreamcatcher
Dreamcatcher was released in 2003, performing poorly in the box office and regarded just as poorly by critics and fans alike. It holds a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The book was released two years prior, originally intended to be called "Cancer", but changed upon request of King's wife.
Big Names Attached: Terrifc cast including Morgan Freeman, Damian Lewis, Timothy Olyphant and Donnie Walhberg. Lawrence Kasdan, the director and writer, was the guy who scriped Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, among other classics.
Is The Book Better?: Hard to say, really. It starts off well enough, but after a certain point, it becomes a bit of a chore. The majority of the disappointment in this one would fall with the writing and acting talent involved with the film, and the size of the budget. The book is a bit of a mess in it's own right, but there was enough good material and ideas in there to make something great out of it. Some of the concepts just screamed to be made into a film. Given Kasdan's track record, you think he might be the right man to salvage some sort of decent script out of it. Unfortunately not. The screenplay is all over the place, and not even such a high calibur cast can save it from utter doom. The whole thing is just so ridiculous, and even though that can sometimes work in a so-bad-it's-good kinda' way, it doesn't in this instance. The film just seems to take itself too seriously, and that's probably mostly down to the direction. At 136 minutes, it's easily the hardest Stephen King adaptation to sit through, and I can only imagine the horrors of subjecting oneself to it more than once. Hope you've enjoyed the article. Keep in mind that there are a number of S.K. adaptations that I have still yet to see. I'm sure there are even more disappointing films/TV movies. Also note that although I'm tearing these films up, I actually don't hate some of them. Children of the Corn and Desperation definitely do have a certain charm to them, and I actually enjoyed them above the rest. And I see some merit in The Dark Half, but it just didn't do it for me. Looking forward to opinions and suggestions from you guys...