John Cusack And Stephen King Are Teaming Up For Cell Adaptation

John Cusack holding a lighter in 1408
(Image credit: Dimension Films)

Viewed from a certain angle, the 2007 John Cusack/ Stephen King collaboration, 1408, was a raging success. It grossed more than one hundred and thirty million dollars worldwide, and it actually got well above average reviews. In fact, it almost broke 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. Viewed from another angle, however, 1408 was a gigantic disappointment. When two people as talented as Cusack and King get together, the final product should be more than a halfway decent horror movie most people vaguely remember. Luckily, the two will now have another shot at getting it right.

Cusack has officially boarded Genre Company’s adaptation of King’s bestselling novel Cell. The screenplay for the psychological horror thriller was written by the author himself in collaboration with Last House On The Left scribe Adam Alleca. The story follows a father who is desperately searching for his family after an unexpected pulse broadcast over the global cell phone network changs people and upends the entire world.

According to Screen Daily, financing has already been arranged by Cargo Entertainment, and the film’s international rights are currently being shopped. That forward progress, coupled with all the talent involved, should lead to a relatively quick start time and hopefully, to a creepy movie most of us put on a little more often than 1408.

Both Cusack and King have given us wonderful films before. There’s no reason to think both can’t find that magic again.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.