Under the Dome premiered last week, and fans of Stephen King's 1,074 page novel were a bit miffed that some things had changed. King is an executive producer on the show (along with Stephen Spielberg), and he took to his blog to defend the decisions of head writer Brian K. Vaughan.
"If the solution to the mystery were the same on TV as in the book, everyone would know it in short order, which would spoil a lot of the fun (besides, plenty of readers didn’t like my solution, anyway)," King wrote. "By the same token, it would spoil things if you guys knew the arcs of the characters in advance." Case in point: Game of Thrones and the Red Wedding.
One big reason for the changes is that Vaughan and the other writers have come up with a whole different source for the titular dome (in the book, it—SPOILER—ends up being an extraterrestrial force). There's also the practical matter of sustaining a television show for (possibly) years, instead of the week and change the dome lasts in the novel.
King famously hated Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining: "What's basically wrong with Kubrick's version of The Shining is that it's a film by a man who thinks too much and feels too little; and that's why, for all its virtuoso effects, it never gets you by the throat and hangs on the way real horror should," he said at the time. Kubrick, like Vaughan, also changed the source of King's evil—maybe the author has mellowed out.
"It’s best to think of that novel and what you’re seeing week-to-week on CBS as a case of fraternal twins. Both started in the same creative womb, but you will be able to tell them apart," King wrote. "Or, if you’re of a sci-fi bent, think of them as alternate versions of the same reality. As for me, I’m enjoying the chance to watch that alternate reality play out."
Under the Dome airs Monday nights at 10 p.m. on CBS.
RELATED: The 25 Best Stephen King Stories
[via Stephen King]
