Published in 1984 and written by Stephen King and Peter Straub, the fantasy epic The Talisman stands out as one of the few classic King stories that hasn't received a film adaptation on the small screen or the big one. Even more unbelievably, Steven Spielberg has owned the rights to the book since the '80s and all planned adaptations have been abandoned over the years.
The book was at one point to be turned into a six-hour TNT mini-series, but we've now learned that it's headed to the big screen as a feature film!
Collider has reported today that The Handmaid's Tale director Mike Baker will be directing The Talisman for Spielberg‘s Amblin Partners and The Kennedy/Marshall Company.
Buried writer Chris Sparling is penning the adaptation.
In the book, “Jack Sawyer, twelve years old, is about to begin a most fantastic journey, an exalting, terrifying quest for the mystical Talisman—the only thing that can save Jack’s dying mother. But to reach his goal, Jack must make his way not only across the breadth of the United States but also through the wondrous and menacing parallel world of the Territories.
In the Territories, Jack finds another realm, where the air is so sweet and clear a man can smell a radish being pulled from the ground a mile away—and a life can be snuffed out instantly in the continuing struggle between good and evil. Here Jack discovers “Twinners,” reflections of the people he knows on earth—most notably Queen Laura, the Twinner of Jack’s own imperiled mother. As Jack “flips” between worlds, making his way westward toward the redemptive Talisman, a sequence of heart-stopping encounters challenges him at every step.”