Back in October, I reviewed the newest novel by Stephen King. It was called Billy Summers, and yes, I very much enjoyed it. If you would like to read my review specifically, here is the link to my blog entry review of the book:
Book Review of Billy Summers by Stephen King, published on October 12, 2021:
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2021/10/book-review-of-billy-summers-by-stephen.html
I have long been a fan of Stephen King’s works. So I pretty much read everything that he comes out with. And this was, for me, one of his very best books in years. People who are only casually familiar at best with some of King's books or movies may be under the impression that almost all he ever does is horror. But that is not true. Surely, the Shawshank Redemption is not a typical horror story. Neither is The Green Mile. Or The Body, a story better known to audiences from the movie Stand By Me. Hell, his seminal work, the expansive Dark Tower series, is not really horror, either. And neither is this book, for that matter.
Don't get me wrong, many of those works have some elements of horror within them. More often than not, they deal with dark matters at some point or other. But if you are scared of horror and thus feel trepidation about picking up a King novel, you can rest assured that there will be nothing in those books that will make you want to cower in a corner and pull the blankets closer around you. Nothing that will make you scared or remember some horrifying imagery, as in other famous King works. The popularity of Pennywise from It, for example, seems to be pretty terrifying. And everybody seems to enjoy Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Jack Torrance, which is also good for a scare (even though King was, in fact, not a big fan of the movie interpretation of his book, The Shining).
There are other famous works by King that are not typically horror, either. Thinking of 11/22/63, which came to be a popular television show. Certainly, Hearts in Atlantis was not scary, either the book or the movie that comes from it (and covered about a third of it). The Green Dragon also is not scary at all. Hell, this guy wrote a book with another author (Stewart O'Nan) documenting the 2004 Boston Red Sox baseball season and championship run. I do not even think that The Dead Zone can necessarily accurately be put into the horror genre, although I can understand that, since it is dark enough, and does have some scary moments. It even has a monster of sorts, although this monster is a populist politician on the rise and seemingly having a date with destiny. There are probably other works by him which are not immediately coming to mind, but which also are not scary and/or cannot be adequately lumped into the horror genre.
So, even though this book, and the television movie or series that will come from it, will likely be billed as coming from "the master of horror," I do not actually think that this give people a fair idea of what this particular novel, and the movie adaptation, will be about. In fact, it detracts from the book, which actually had far more to offer than most people would think a typical "horror" novel or movie would offer.
As for who might play the title character?
Stephen King has some ideas on that, too. There is somebody he has in mind - a well-known actor, who he feels would be ideal for the role:
"Well, given his age, which is probably mid-40s, there are a lot of actors that could do that part very well," King shared with Rolling Stone about Billy Summers. "I think maybe the most underrated actor working right now is Jake Gyllenhaal and he'd made a wonderful Billy. But we're just blue-skying here. There are a lot of people who would be good."
No word that I can see as to when we will be able to view this movie or television series adaptation, or even when it would be filmed, or anything. Guess we will have to stay tuned for that.
Stephen King & J.J. Abrams Reteam on Billy Summers Adaptation by Spencer Perry, February 1, 2022:
https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/stephen-king-j-j-abrams-reteam-on-billy-summers-adaptation/?fbclid=IwAR2gSmiX8-dcQPXv7-J0vj4VQUwuwHmK54357HMTthsS4CtKOUmcnBmtQAc
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