Last month, Stephen King fans everywhere got some bad news as it was reported that director Gary Dauberman's Salem's Lot moved its release date from this September to spring 2023. It was a sad report to read for those anticipating the upcoming film – but there is a terrific silver lining: there is still another King adaptation set to be released this fall, and, according to the author, "it's nothing short of brilliant."
A movie version of the novella "Mr. Harrigan's Phone," directed by John Lee Hancock, is on pace to premiere as a Netflix exclusive in the late months of 2022, and while the film does not have a set release date, Stephen King has already seen it. The beloved writer took to his Twitter account this morning to share the update and his opinion of the work, and all signs point to now being the time to start getting hyped:
I have seen a close-to-finished cut of MR. HARRIGAN'S PHONE, written and directed by John Lee Hancock, and it's nothing short of brilliant. Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell. Netflix. This fall.August 12, 2022
"Mr. Harrigan's Phone" is one of the most recent novellas written by Stephen King, published in the 2020 collection If It Bleeds. The story follows a boy named Craig living in a small town in Maine who starts working for his neighbor, an elderly, wealthy man named Mr. Harrigan. When the kid wins $3,000 from a scratch lottery ticket given to him by his employer, he uses some of the winnings to get a gift for Mr. Harrigan – namely a newly released iPhone. The former businessman is utterly entranced by the machine... and the wonder ends up going far beyond amazement with modern technology, as after he dies, the device continues to let him communicated with Craig from beyond the grave.
Jaeden Martell, whom Constant Readers will recognize from his role as Bill Denbrough in IT and IT Chapter 2, is playing Craig in the adaptation of Mr. Harrigan's Phone, and Donald Sutherland is playing the titular character (having previously played Richard Straker in the 2004 miniseries remake of Salem's Lot). The Stephen King adaptation has a supporting cast that also includes Joe Tippett and Kirby Howell-Baptiste.
Now that Mr. Harrigan's Phone has Stephen King's enthusiastic stamp of approval, our anticipation for the film has only grown more powerful... though sadly we still don't quite know when the film will be released as part of Netflix's 2022 movie schedule. You can most definitely expect CinemaBlend to report on that information when it becomes available.
In the meantime, you can enjoy a whole lot of other Stephen King-centric articles on the site. Our Upcoming Stephen King Movies and TV guide will give you a glimpse of everything that is on the horizon; our ranking of the Best Stephen King films highlights the greatest adaptations we've seen on the big screen; and our Ultimate Stephen King Collection feature will teach you find and buy books, Blu-rays and DVDs. And if you're interested in the full history of the author's books being made into movies and television, check out our weekly Adapting Stephen King column, which publishes every Wednesday.
