An Underrated Stephen King Thriller Is Getting A Surprise Sequel
But 1408 2 might be a little confusing.
Stephen King adaptations are somehow even more profitable and prolific than they were decades ago. Short stories, novellas, multi-volume sagas, old movies — if Hollywood could option his grocery lists, it would. And now that studios are in love with “legacyquels,” second chapters that come decades after the first, it’s only a matter of time before every King movie is revisited one way or another.
At the forefront of this trend is Mike Flanagan, who’s basically made a career of adapting King’s work. He just recently released his series-length reimagining of Carrie, and he’s already working on a new adaptation of The Mist and a big series adaptation of The Dark Tower. But while this may surprise some, he’s not the only one bringing old King stories back to life. Almost two decades later, an adaptation of a classic psychological horror short story is getting an unexpected, belated sequel.
In 2007, John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson starred in 1408.
According to Variety, Mikael Håfström is returning to direct a sequel to 1408, which was based on the short story of the same name by Stephen King. The 2007 movie followed a skeptic (John Cusack) who checked into a supposedly haunted hotel room, only to find himself in an unending torment nexus with only an “express checkout” option (a noose) to make it stop.
This new movie will star Stranger Things’ Natalia Dyer and feature Yellowjackets’ Elijah Wood in a supporting role. John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson are apparently negotiating deals to reprise their roles in the sequel.
Stranger Things’ Natalia Dyer will star in the sequel 1408, hopefully called 1409.
That last announcement complicates matters a bit. 1408 was released on home media with four different endings: the theatrical, the “director’s cut” ending, and two extra endings. Every viewer has their preference, but now that a sequel is on the table, one of these endings has to be chosen as canonical. Cusack’s character Mike doesn’t survive two of the endings, so that narrows the options down to the original theatrical ending and the “no proof” ending, which shows Mike surviving his ordeal but leaves the validity of what he experienced up in the air. Regardless of what approach the sequel takes, however, one of King’s shortest works is suddenly becoming an entire franchise.
