Often in collections of Stephen King film adaptations you can see “The Lawnmower Man” from 1992. We checked whether this picture is really based on the story of the same name by the King of Horrors.
The name of Stephen King among the authors of the science fiction film “The Lawnmower Man” can be found not only in thematic collections on social networks, but also on websites, dedicated to the movie, where King is listed as one of the screenwriters. And some of bloggers even calls “The Lawnmower Man” the best film adaptation of the writer’s works.
Even on official posters the paintings proudly indicated King's name is Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man. And there are such posters in different languages.
King actually has a story, “The Lawnmower Man.” He wrote it back in the 1970s, first published in Cavalier magazine in 1975, and later, in 1978, the story hit to the collection “Night Shift”. By plot work, a man named Harold Parkett called a professional to mow his overgrown lawn, but the worker who came turned out to be a satyr serving the ancient Greek god Pan. As a result, the main character was sacrificed by a lawnmower and his “revived” red mower.
In 1992, a science fiction film was released in cinemas. "Lawnmower Man" directed by Brett Leonard and starring Jeff Fahey and Pierce Brosnan. According to the plot of the film, the doctor conducted experiments on the mentally retarded lawnmower Job Smith, as a result of which he received superintelligence and superpowers and went into virtual reality. Agree, it doesn’t look very much like the “original source”. But then why did they use King's name in the promotion?
The fact is that in the late 1980s, the Allied Vision studio acquired rights to film the aforementioned King story, but could not turn it into a full-length film. Then the producers decided to combine King's story with another story about virtual reality.
The film's script was written by Brett Leonard and Gimel Everett. It was originally an original story called "Cyber God", but then small elements from King's works were added to it. So, in the film there is a scene with the murder of a minor character named Harold Parkett - he was also cut by a self-propelled red mower (only in the film it was controlled by Job's mind), then the police found Harold's body on the lawn. And The Shop's organization behind the experiments is taken from King's other works, Fire in the Eye and The Tommyknockers.
Distributor New Line was promoting a film called "Stephen King's Lawnmower Man" at the box office. However, in May 1992, the writer filed a lawsuit v. Allied Vision and New Line Cinema, arguing that the film "bears no significant similarity" to his story beyond the title and a short two-minute scene. King demanded that his name be removed from advertising and credits.
However, even after a couple of court decisions in King's favor and a settlement agreement, the New Line studio continued to use the writer's name, releasing videotapes with his name on the cover. Then in 1994, federal judge decidedthat the company was in contempt of court, and gave it 30 days to comply or face a fine of $10,000 per day. After some time, the studio complied.
And the real one film adaptation Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man was released as a short film in 1987. It's funny that the screenwriter of that short film was Michael De Luca, the future chief producer of New Line Cinema.
Image: Brian Boucheron/ flickr.com
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