There was talk in 2017 of an adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s collaboration novel, “The Talisman.” A feeling of excitement and dread combined has been experienced by fans, as the fantasy novel is a Constant Reader favourite story.

It sounds like worries are unnecessary as it is now reported the Film is to be directed by none other than Mike Barker, who directs the critically acclaimed series “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Chris Sparling is writing the script, Michael Wright is executive producing, while Frank Marshal is the producer.

Synopsis of ‘The Talisman’

Fans were concerned when first hearing the news due to the complicated storyline in the novel. Having seen that other favourite “The Dark Tower” tanking at the box office, it is concerning indeed. If Barker can do as good a job on this adaptation, it will be a great movie indeed.

“The Talisman” is about a Jack Sawyer, 12, whose mother is a former film star dying from cancer. He tries to save her by searching for a mysterious crystal called The Talisman. Through meeting a mysterious man in a rundown beach resort, Jack heads out into what is known as “The Territories,” a parallel universe which is full of dangers.

Not only does Jack have to save his own mother, but he also has to save her “twinner,” Laura DeLoessian, the queen of The Territories.

He makes some great friends along the way, including Wolf, a friendly version of this universe’s werewolves.

Stephen King and Peter Straub followed up the story with another great book, “Black House” which continued Jack’s story. As noted by Collider, Jack is now an adult and is a retired homicide detective from Los Angeles who ends up trying to solve some murders in a town in Wisconsin but finds himself being pulled back into his past.

Both novels have a tie-in with King’s “The Dark Tower” series, hence the worry mentioned above. However, if they pull off “The Talisman,” maybe there is hope for another adaptation of “Black House?”

‘The Talisman' originally planned for the little screen

As reported by Den of Geek, it was originally planned to adapt the book into a TV series. However, Amblin Entertainment decided to go for a movie, possibly due to the box office success of “It” in 2017. At that stage, Josh Boone – a huge Stephen King fan – was set to write the script.

While that won’t happen now, he is already busy on two other King adaptations, including a film based on “Revival” and TV series of “The Stand.”

As yet, there is no news of a release date for the film or any idea of who might star in “The Talisman.”
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