mikael hafstrom Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You know adaptations that don't merely modify the source material in details and plot mechanics but completely change its nature? Mikael Håfstrom's 1408 is like that. It's an interesting work, less in its own right than because it takes a virtuoso straight-ahead horror story and, in bringing it to the screen, turns it into a nuanced, downright surreal exploration of the protagonist's guilt and grief. You do not expect a film adaptation to tone down visceral thrills and flesh out emotional content. Nonetheless, here we are.

Stephen King's short story, part of the all-around-excellent Everything's Eventual collection (as well as the Blood and Smoke audiobook), is probably the scariest piece of fiction I've ever read. It begins in fairly conventional horror tones – a story about a haunted hotel room – but then moves on to something far more frightening. Ghosts can be scary enough, but you can at least understand them: they used to be like us, and in most cases they want something straightforward. What lived inside Room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel – King's version – was nothing like that. We don't get specifics, but that's because we wouldn't understand them: the force that inhabits that room is so utterly, terrifyingly alien as to be beyond human comprehension. What Mike Enslin encounters isn't, it turns out, a "haunted hotel room," but an unfathomable cosmic terror that would have made H.P. Lovecraft proud. King does more than give us a scary story – he takes us to the edge of an abyss.

As I reported in December, Danny and Oxide Pang (Bangkok Dangerous, The Messengers) were hired to direct the sequel to action fantasy The Storm Riders. More details have surfaced at the Hong Kong Filmart, according to Variety. Filming begins next month with original stars Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng set to return; Simon Yam, Nicholas Tse, and Charlene Choi will also star. The picture will be the first Hong Kong movie filmed exclusively on blue screen, a la 300, though the budget is just $12 million, compared to 300's estimated cost of $65 million. The Storm Riders II is due for release at the end of 2009.

Variety is also reporting that the wonderfully versatile Gary Oldman is in "advanced negotiations" to star in Rain Fall, the "story of a hit man who is forced to protect the daughter of one of his victims against assassination by the C.I.A." If the deal goes through, Oldman would join Shiina Kippei (Shinobi) and actress Akiho Hasegawa. Max Mannix will direct the Japan-set thriller; veteran producer Satoru Iseki is employing "sophisticated Western financing techniques" to get the picture made.

We've been tracking World War II action epic Shanghai since last summer. Production was expected to start this spring in Shanghai, but the Chinese authorities denied the shooting permit after the Weinstein Co. had spent nearly three million dollars building sets. Variety says that production has now been shifted to Thailand and England, though there's no word on a new start date. The film will be directed by Mikael Håfström and stars John Cusack, Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe.

We first caught wind of Shanghai this past summer, as part of the announcement that The Weinstein Co. had landed $285 million to make Asian-themed films. At the time it was described simply as "an action epic set during World War II." A few months later, James Rocchi told us that John Cusack was in negotiations to star as "an American expat who returns to Shanghai in the months before Pearl Harbor due to the death of his friend." James noted that the beautiful Gong Li had already been cast, and that director Mikael Håfström was on board. Cusack and Håfström previously worked together on 1408.

Variety Asia Online is reporting that another piece of the puzzle has been added: Ken Watanabe has joined the cast. No details are offered about the role he will play, though the article fleshes out the plot a little. Referring to the character that will be played by Cusack (now confirmed to star), the article states: "While trying to solve the murder [of his friend], he falls in love and discovers a much larger secret that his own government is hiding." Hossein Amini wrote the script; he was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on The Wings of the Dove, and also adapted Jude as well as the more recent Killshot.

Watanabe has great presence; he shot to prominence opposite Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai and was memorable in both Batman Begins and Letters from Iwo Jima; he also received kudos for his work as a businessman beset by Alzheimer's Disease in Memories of Tomorrow. During the time period covered in the upcoming film, Shanghai was occupied by Japan, but, as noted above, we'll have to wait and see which part the Japanese-born Watanabe will play. Production is expected to start this spring in Shanghai. Watanabe was also recently cast in Cirque du Freak, which rolls this month, but I presume the filming schedules are compatible.

Confession time: Not only have I read (literally) every story ever written by Stephen King (some of 'em two or three times), but I've also seen (literally) every movie inspired by his books. Some of 'em four or five times. I discovered the man's work around the time I was 13 -- and I devoured his early paperbacks like a junkie devours his drug of choice. I was hooked. All through high school and college and "grown-up" life, if there was a new King paperback out there, I had to have it. Most I liked, some I truly did not, and I few I really went crazy for. And since I'm even more of a movie geek than I am a passionate reader, I'm always pretty excited to sit down with a new cinematic adaptation. (And no amount of Dreamcatchers will ever change that.)

It's been pretty well-documented over the past two decades: LOTS of the movies based on Stephen King stories are grade-A, bona-fide awful. Some of the turkeys had good intentions; some of 'em were low-rent knock 'em offs mounted solely to capitalize on the mega-author's name. But every once in a while ... you'd get something like The Dead Zone or Pet Sematary or Misery or The Shawshank Redemption or Dolores Claiborne or (choose your own favorites like I just did). So yes: this long and roundabout introduction is meant to lead you to the following assertion: The newest King flick is (most definitely) one of the good ones. Save for a few minor stumbles in Act III (and easily forgiven ones at that), Mikael Hafstrom's 1408 is actually one of the best Stephen King adaptations in quite some time.

Stephen King sure isn't shy about trashing some of the flicks that have been made from his stories. It's been pretty well-documented that he wasn't a big fan of Kubrick's rather liberal adaptation of The Shining ... so obviously the author is a pretty tough guy to please. So it must come as a relief to director Mikael Hafstrom to learn that The Horror King really dug his adaptation of 1408.

The haunted hotel thriller (which stars John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, a cool duo if ever there was one) hits theaters later this month, but Mr. Hafstrom informed Bloody-Disgusting.com that Stephen King really likes the movie: "King was very pleased with the film, I'm happy to say. When you are adapting an author, especially one who has been around like he has, it's very important that he approves. Even though the film contains more story, we are true to heart and soul of the short story." The author also doled out some specific praise for Cusack's performance.

Someone could write a really amusing book about the films made from the books and short stories of Stephen King. On one end of the scale you'd have The Shawshank Redemption, The Dead Zone and Carrie, but on the other end ... yikes. Stuff like The Mangler, Maximum Overdrive (which King directed himself!) and The Lawnmower Man. (Plus, what the hell was up with Dreamcatcher??) And out of respect for the author, I won't even get in to all the Children of the Corn sequels.

Coming Soon: Frank Darabont's take on King's awesomely spooky tale The Mist!

A lengthy, detailed and remarkably un-scary trailer for the new film 1408 has been dropped. Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name from his audiobook collection, Blood and Smoke, 1408 is about a writer whose niche is the paranormal. He's also something of a professional debunker, continually talking up his belief that the supernatural is nothing but hokum, even though he writes about it for a living. His job description eventually leads him to an infamous, unused room at a swanky hotel, where strange things are rumored to happen.

The film stars John Cusack as the writer and Samuel L. Jackson as the caretaker who goes around letting people stay in a room where an actual blizzard happens and ghosts come running at the guests with sharp instruments. As for the trailer, it has little to offer other than Cusack pulling faces and screaming unconvincingly and throwing his hands up in the air a lot. It also shows us that there's a creepy, ghostly little kid who figures prominently into the story. Hmm...is Jack Nicholson getting residuals for this? The film also stars Mary McCormack and is directed by Mikael Hafstrom, who brought us Derailed. 1408 opens in theaters on July 13.

Almost exactly three years ago, it was breathlessly reported that Eli Roth would be directing a film version of 1408, a short story by Stephen King. Shortly thereafter, however, Roth's name vanished from the project, which ended up in the hands of Dimension Pictures (who are making the Roth/King collaboration I talked about yesterday), under the guidance of producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. Then, in late 2003, the movie simply fell off the radar, leading pretty much anyone who cared to assume that, like a lot of projects, it just didn't work out. But now, it's back! (And there was, one assumes, much rejoicing. Somewhere.) Still associated with Dimension and di Bonaventura, the movie will now be directed by Derailed's Mikael Håfström, from a script rewrite by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (they wrote The People vs. Larry Flynt together). And it's got a cast! And an actual start date! Starring John Cusack, the object of the whole world's inexplicable adoration, the movie is set to begin shooting this summer.

1408 is the story of a writer (Cusack) whose name has been made debunking urban horror myths, through a series of book - Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Houses, Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Graveyards - in which he describes spending the night at supposedly haunted sites. Next on his list is a book about haunted hotels so, despite the repeated warnings of the hotel's manager (can you feel the tension rising?), he "checks into notorious Room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel." Dun dun dun! Inside that room? Oh, you know what happens there, friends: nothing but pure, unadulterated terror.