While promoting the 10th anniversary of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, director/writer Frank Darabont has said that he will direct screen adaptations of Stephen Kings MIST and Ray Bradburys FAHRENHEIT 451, reports SCI FI WIRE.
In regards to FAHRENHEIT 451. Darabont said, "Since I was 9 years old, I've wanted to makethis movie, I think it is the most eloquent indictment of political intolerance fascism, if you will that's ever been written. It is particularly relevant to our society today, where the definition of patriotism is being twisted around to mean the opposite of what it should be. Society is always trying to become oppressive, and that's what Bradbury was writing about. He wrote it as a cry from the heart, as a reaction against the McCarthy era. So it's very timely again, in my view. Aside from that, it's just a walloping good story."
Darabont will use a combination of animatronics and computer animation to create the mechanical hounds of the original book.
In regards to MIST, which is a short story from Kings SKELETON CREW anthology, Darabont said, "I love the fact that THE MIST is a pressure cooker that's character-driven and that's a down-and-dirty monster movie. I just love it. It's that wonderful Steve King taste in the mouth. I'm excited about getting back to my horror roots. I'm also excited about getting in there and shooting something down-and-dirty. I envision the monster barely glimpsed, just like in the story. These are things that you don't quite ever fully see. So I'm going to take a cue from everybody's godfather, Mr. Spielberg, and show the shark as little as possible," he added, referring to Steven Spielberg's JAWS.
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