Big Driver to be a Lifetime Movie....

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SutterKane

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Jun 7, 2014
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Stephen King Short Story Big Driver Will Be A Lifetime Telepic With Maria Bello

Add Big Driver, a short story in Stephen King’s 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars to the huge list of works by the living literary legend that are in the midst of being adapted to the screen. Lifetime just green-lit a television movie based on the story and has set A History of Violenceactress Maria Bello to star.

Big Driver will center on a successful mystery novelist (Bello) who takes an ostensible shortcut on her way home from an engagement at a Chicopee, Massachusetts, library and falls into a trap set by a sinister trucker, who proceeds to brutally rape her and leave her for dead. After recovering from her injuries, the novelist uses the detective skills she picked up from writing mystery novels to track down and take revenge on the trucker and his accomplices.

It’s pretty disturbing material for a TV movie, and King’s short story was sickeningly graphic, so hopefully Lifetime will tone it down a bit. As of right now, the only reason I’d watch Big Driver is Bello. She’s a supremely talented actress, and I’ll be interested to see how she does in the role of a victim-turned-vigilante. The story wasn’t one of King’s best, but it’s still filled with some creepy and dramatic moments.

Richard Christian Matheson, who previously penned Happy Face Killer for Lifetime and also wrote an episode of the 2006 miniseries Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King will be scribing the adaptation. Meanwhile, Mikael Salomon, who sat behind the camera on A&E’s Coma miniseries and coincidentally also helmed episodes of Nightmares & Dreamscapes (though not with Matheson), has been set to direct. Olympia Dukakis, Joan Jett and Will Harris will co-star.

Production on Big Driver will kick off this summer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Lifetime eying a fall premiere date.
 

skimom2

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It's definitely a Lifetime movie sort of story. Not one of my favorites; I found it to be the weakest story in FDNS. Though, as always, I admired his characterizations and true to life detail, the whole revenge fantasy aspect was unconvincing.
 

HollyGolightly

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Sep 6, 2013
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It's definitely a Lifetime movie sort of story. Not one of my favorites; I found it to be the weakest story in FDNS. Though, as always, I admired his characterizations and true to life detail, the whole revenge fantasy aspect was unconvincing.
I've only read Big Driver and A Good Marriage from that collection. Both deeply disturbing. If Big Driver was weak, I'm afraid to read the others.
 

carrie's younger brother

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Mar 8, 2012
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Richard Christian Matheson is Richard Matheson's son. For those who are not familiar with him, Richard Matheson (the father) is the author of such great novels as The Shrinking Man, Hell House, I am Legend, etc., etc., etc.
Should be interesting. Big Driver is my favorite from the collection.
 

SutterKane

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Only part I don't get about the article was the "Sickeningly graphic" comment. I didn't think their was anything gratuitous about the story, even the rape scene, if I remember correctly, was told in the past tense, after it happened. It was more implied then told in brutal details. I can think of much worse.

I agree about Maria Bello being a good choice for the role.
 

blunthead

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Aug 2, 2006
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Only part I don't get about the article was the "Sickeningly graphic" comment. I didn't think their was anything gratuitous about the story, even the rape scene, if I remember correctly, was told in the past tense, after it happened. It was more implied then told in brutal details. I can think of much worse.

I agree about Maria Bello being a good choice for the role.
Yes, I agree 100%. The story was not sickeningly graphic. You wonder how routinely writers actually read the stories they write about, but instead assume things about it due to assumptions about its author.
 

SutterKane

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2014
297
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Richard Christian Matheson is Richard Matheson's son. For those who are not familiar with him, Richard Matheson (the father) is the author of such great novels as The Shrinking Man, Hell House, I am Legend, etc., etc., etc.
Should be interesting. Big Driver is my favorite from the collection.

Yes, I agree 100%. The story was not sickeningly graphic. You wonder how routinely writers actually read the stories they write about, but instead assume things about it due to assumptions about its author.

That's what I was thinking, to me it sounds like she looked up the synopsis on wikipedia after being told to write the story and tried to make educated guesses about it.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
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Yes, I agree 100%. The story was not sickeningly graphic. You wonder how routinely writers actually read the stories they write about, but instead assume things about it due to assumptions about its author.

YES! I find that reviewers/reporters do that all the time with Mr. King's stories: the obligatory, "It's so spooky/gross/terrifying/haunting" statement, even when such a statement doesn't apply to whatever they're talking about. The most scandalous was the review of Doctor Sleep by a Very Famous Writer: Full of those empty statements and references to Mr. King's early work, but very little to do with the story being reviewed. I'd guarantee as a reviewer myself that reviewer never read more of Doctor Sleep than the cover blurb. Made me mad, even though the review was positive.