How the Stephen King adaptation became a celebration of Scott Wampler
, there is a dedication: “In Memory of Scott Wampler .” It’s a simple card that may not mean much to most audiences, but to film journalists and fans, especially those in Austin, those five words mean the world.
But they’ll already have some of those feelings. In an earlier scene, in which everyman Chuck Krantz suddenly starts dancing on a sunny street, there’s a familiar short mohawk in the crowd of extras. It’s just there for an instant, but it’s instantly recognizable. That was Wampler, writer forWampler’s appearance is brief, but significant – to the audience, and to Flanagan himself, who counted himself among Wampler's friends. “I wish we could have had more,” the director said. He was actually in Austin for the 2024 ATX TV Festival when Wampler’s death was announced, and so he got to grieve among others who knew him, but a year later the impact of Wampler’s life is still sending ripples, still resonating, stillFlanagan’s wife and creative partner Kate Siegel recalled she was on set filming her directorial debut, a segment of anthology horror, when she heard the news. She said, “It was just like the whole world had changed. It was so sad.” Part of Flanagan and Wampler’s connection came from their shared love of the works of Stephen King. After all, Wampler’s podcast with Eric Vespe,, is dedicated solely to the works and adaptations of the master of literary horror. Meanwhile, Flanagan has become “the King guy,” having already adaptedbooks, “which is my life’s dream.” Even though he has written and directed many original films and shows, such as). Flanagan is OK with being synonymous with King on screen. “Totally honestly, I’m happy to be the King guy. It would be an honor. … I’m a nerdy fanboy, first and foremost, and I pinch myself every time I get to do this.” It’s not been a deliberate process, and he has a long way to go to beat out the reigning king of King adaptations, Mick Garris . Nor was he really looking for just any King book to turn into a movie.just hit him the right way. He first read it in April 2020, just at the start of the COVID lockdowns and just before it was published in the anthology,. King had sent the full manuscript of all four stories “to a bunch of filmmakers to see who wanted what,” Flanagan said, and he immediately responded to the strange and lyrical. “It hit me so hard. The beginning of it was so uncomfortable to read because I felt like the world was ending outside the window, and by the end of it I was so full of optimism and joy that I was completely shocked, based on where we started. The story helped me get through it and really made me look back at my life in an interesting way.” “Mike closed the book and he looks at me with tears in his eyes and he says, ‘This is the greatest movie I’ll never get to make.’” Siegel recalled that night. “Mike closed the book and he looks at me with tears in his eyes and he says, ‘This is the greatest movie I’ll never get to make.’ And then I read it, and frankly I agreed with him. I was like, ‘What an incredibly moving story, but how could you ever shoot it?’ And then we both realized that that was how he felt about, that he loved it and didn’t know how it could be done. But he loves a challenge, and at that point my job as a collaborator and supporter is just to go, ‘Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!’ And when he flinches, to be right there with a gentle hand on his back and be like, ‘You can keep going through this.’” He quickly contacted King about turning it into a movie, and King said … no. Not because he didn’t want Flanagan working on it, but they were already collaborating on, “and he was like, ‘Let’s focus on that,’” Flanagan said. “He doesn’t like to give you more than one thing at a time because it means one isn’t moving forward.” However, withthough, is that still available?’ He was like, ‘Yes. No one ever jumped up for that one.’ I said, ‘Ah, that’s the best one.’” For Siegel, it’s a perfect fit – not because it brings together two horror experts but because “both Mike and Steve always write about people,” she said. “And, of course, death. However, unlike how people often and misguidedly think of King and Flanagan and death, of gruesome and creative kills,is about the metaphysical aspects of death, in knowing that we will die even if we’re not sure where or when. During the press tour for the film, Flanagan and Siegel had both had multiple conversations about Wampler with journalists who knew him, but Siegel noted that the film had opened up broader conversations about loss. “Every single conversation I have had in press has felt deeper than an interview. It has felt like two people sitting down with a cup of tea and talking about the meaning of life.”is not really about death, but about finding value and joy in the life lived before death. Siegel said, “I’ve recently been telling the people the phrase, ‘Only the dirt to hold you,’ which means, ‘Experience everything you can now because eventually you’ll be dead, and there’s only the dirt to hold you.’” She laughed. “Very uplifting.”role as a schoolteacher. She beats herself up at night because she doesn’t think she did a good job with her class, not realizing that she struck a chord in young Chuck that will shape his existence. That chord is struck when she recites a portion of Walt Whitman’s– the same way that Wampler influenced so many people. She said, “Anyone who knows Scott knows that he was an incredible example of ‘I contain multitudes.’ He was a man with a very grouchy, tough exterior who had a very generous and loving heart, and you’d never expect, with just taking a glance at Scott with the mohawk, that he would be such a brilliant mind about literature, and such an incredible gamer, and such a great friend. He was full of multitudes. It was such a loss. It was the loss of a universe when he died.” The fictional life of Chuck and the real life of Wampler both reflect one of the film’s central themes, of celebrating what we have right now. As Siegel put it, “What does it say about the world that it’s a radical idea that you are enough?” “Expectations are a killer,” Siegel added. “We’re inundated with comparisons, with social media and everything like that, feeling like we need to be richer, skinnier, more pretty, plastic surgery, more successful, work out more, do all these things. … All of this stuff, its only goal is to make you want more and strive more. There is no end point where social media is going to tell you that you’re smart enough or you’re rich enough or you’re palatable enough. The only desire is to be free of that desire.” For Siegel, the conversations around the film, the ones that it inspires, are what make it perfect for the cinema. “The lights come up, and you have this incredible desire to connect with somebody, face to face.”has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.
Mike Flanagan Neon Scott Wampler The Life Of Chuck
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