Steven Spielberg and Stephen King are eerily connected—and not only because of the whole name thing.
On this same day, April 5, in 1974, King published his first novel, Carrie, and Spielberg premiered his first theatrical film, The Sugarland Express.
But above all, they're both fans of each other's works. They almost worked on Poltergeist script together as Spielberg tried to get in contact with King to help him out. Unfortunately, the less technological world at the time made it nearly impossible for them to get in contact with each other to make it happen as King was crossing the Atlantic by ship. Years later, Spielberg's company, Amblin Television, produced a television series based on King’s book Under the Dome.
"I don’t know how Stephen King and I aren’t related by blood," Spielberg told Entertainment Weekly. “I cannot believe that part of Stephen King is not Jewish, and I can’t believe that we haven’t actually made a movie together. I really think Stephen and I have a spiritual connection in terms of the movies and the stories we love to tell."
And it seems that the two will be able to creatively work with each other sooner than later. Spielberg has been eyeing King's fantastical book co-written with Peter Straub, The Talisman, since the '80s.Universal Studios even bought the rights to the novel for him before it was published. (The Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone signed on to write the script last fall; he's also been tied to adaptations of King's The Stand, Lisey's Story, and Revival.) Now, on the heels of another box office No. 1 with Ready Player One, Spielberg is bringing The Talisman back to the fore. Although he is "not committing to the project as a director," he's "hoping to get this movie made in the next couple of years." He added that "in the very near future, that’s going to be our richest collaboration."
If it happens, we vote for them release it on April 5.
