Stephen King has seen many of his novels and short stories adapted for the big screen – afterall, he is considered to be one of the most influential horror authors to ever exist!
But one adaptation enraged him so much, he ended up suing the production.
And no, it wasn’t The Shining, believe it or not.
Stephen King is a legend in the world of horror (Scott Eisen/Getty Images for Warner Bros)
More than 60 stories penned by the King of Horror have gone on to be adapted for the screen, with very mixed results.
From 1976’s Carrie directed by Brian De Palma, to the critically acclaimed IT series, King’s body of work has been a constant inspiration for horror and thriller films over the past five decades.
With 200 short stories, plus multiple novels to his name, King has witnessed many of his titles being turned into cinematic tales – though he’s famously made it known that there have been many he wasn’t fond of.
Take Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of The Shining starring Jack Nicholson, for example. Despite becoming a cult classic, King wasn’t at all a fan of how the movie turned out, with him describing it as a ‘maddening, perverse, and disappointing film’. Yikes.
And this was also the case with a 1992 adaptation of one of his short stories.
King famously isn’t a fan of the 1980 adaptation of his book The Shining (Warner Bros.)
Directed by Brett Leonard, who co-wrote the script with Gimel Everett, the adaptation differed so much from the source material that King sued to have his name revered from the title, which was originally his short story The Lawnmower Man.
King’s 1975 story follows a man named Harold Parkette who contacts a company to mow his lawn.
But Harold discovers that the man he’s hired for the job is able to operate the lawnmower without touching it, and is seen acting bizarrely by chasing the machine while naked on all fours.
Puzzled by the gardener’s behaviour, Harold learns that the man works for a company that has introduced a new method and sacrifices customers who don’t appreciate the process.
It doesn’t end well for poor Harold, as despite his attempts to play along with the man, the lawnmower chases Harold through his living room before brutally murdering him.
The eerie premise isn’t maintained in the 1992 film adaptation though, which stars Jeff Fahey as mentally disabled gardener Jobe Smith.
The 1992 adaptation of The Lawnmower Man failed to impress King so much, he took legal action (New Line Cinema)
In the film, his ability to control the lawnmower is a consequence of his superhuman abilities, which he acquired through scientific experimentation carried out by Dr Larry Angelo, played by Pierce Brosnan.
King insisted that Leonard’s movie ‘bore no meaningful resemblance’ to his story and in July 1992, the author had a federal judge rule in his favour.
And then, in an appeal in October of the same year, it was ruled that the on-screen credit could remain but that King’s name should be removed from advertising.
The novelist was awarded $2.5 million in the settlement.
In 1994, distributor New Line Cinema was held in contempt of court when they initially failed to remove King’s name from the home video version of the film.
