When the showrunner of Spike’s new series The Mist began thinking about how he’d adapt the Stephen King novella for TV, he decided to take “the Fargo approach.”
“It’s the same but it’s different,” Christian Torpe said on a Television Critics Association 2017 winter press tour panel for his new show. “Like a weird, twisted cousin to the original source material. Fans of the movie and of the book and Mr. King’s work will certainly see elements from it, and especially if you watch the season in macro perspective there’s plenty of parallel. We also, in order to develop it for TV and to turn it into an ongoing series, took our own little detours here and there. Let’s call it a parallel story or a cousin to the original one.”
The 10-episode series stars Frances Conroy, Morgan Spector, Alyssa Sutherland (and more!) and is based on the novella—not the film—which had a much darker ending than King’s story and ended up being quite divisive. Torpe said although he enjoyed both endings, he’s come up with his own spin on the story. “I personally loved Mr. Darabont’s ending. I thought it was a stroke of genius. We are playing around in that territory,” he hinted.
As for the actual mist itself, Torpe has updated the visuals and the powers of the mist to distinguish this story from the previous versions. More than the literal mist, The Mist is a show about fear.
“It really is a very character-driven show. The Mist is, to a certain degree, an existential backdrop and the story is more about how people react to fear and to the threat of what’s out there.”
The Mist premieres Thursday, June 22 at 10 p.m. on Spike. Which ending do you prefer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Images: Spike
