John Cusack has signed on to play yet another Stephen King protagonist. Yesterday, it was announced that he’d fill the role of Clayton Riddell in a film adaptation of King’s 2006 novel, Cell.
You remember Cell, right? It’s the one about a Boston-based comic book writer on the cusp of massive success when an event called The Pulse occurs and turns everyone using their cell phone into a psychically enhanced, zombie-esque creature called a “phoner.” Our hero, who doesn’t own a cell phone, embarks on a journey with others who weren’t changed by The Pulse to a safe haven in Kashwak, MA. The Kristen Bell film Pulse, which released the same year as King’s novel, had a similar story; however, it was actually inspired by Kairo, a 2001 Japanese horror film about the dangers of technology obsession.
1408, Cusack’s last King movie, did quite well at the box office. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the $25 million budgeted film made $131,998,242 worldwide. Provided the current zombie craze doesn’t slow down by the time this film is released, I suspect Cell will fare much better than that. Although, now that I think about it, a certain portion of the general public may not want to see a film about a mobile phone with an agenda.
King will co-write the film’s script with Adam Alleca (The Last House on the Left). As someone who recently watched Maximum Overdrive for the first time, I breathed a sigh of relief when no mention of King directing the project was made. The film’s director and the rest of its cast have yet to be named.