Stephen King’s latest, Under the Dome, only came out last week but there are already plans to adapt the novel for TV. Stephen King TV adaptations are rarely anything to get excited about these days since most end up being disappointments, but when Steven Spielberg is the man behind the project everything changes.  The powerhouse duo are now working with DreamWorks TV in setting up an event series based on the recent bestseller, which will most likely be on cable.  You can get all of the details after the jump.

J.J. Abrams finally said no to a project.  Unfortunately, MTV Movies is reporting that project was an adaptation of Stephen King’s wildly popular The Dark Tower series that he and Damon Lindelof were previously attached to.  While Abrams cited his reluctance to delve into a new story immediately after finishing Lost, Lindelof mentioned the difficulty of adapting an immensely popular work.  “Having seen Zack [Snyder] go through what he went through on Watchmen in terms of saying where can I digress from the material, I just get headaches from changing anything,” he said.  Hear that fanboys and fangirls?  Your reputation for intense scrutiny has gotten so bad it’s scaring people away from good projects.  Keep it up and you can kiss that Wheel of Time adaptation goodbye.

I don’t know who is writing good horror novels anymore.  Granted, I’m more of a non-fiction guy myself (although I currently can’t put down Christopher Moore’s “Lamb”) but the only name I ever associate with successful horror fiction is Stephen King.  Of course, King has now become a punch line, especially since upcoming book, “Under the Dome” has the same premise as “The Simpsons Movie”.  I don’t know if an association with King helps or hurts a project but since Joe Hill’s “Horns” was just picked up by Mandalay and Joe Hill is King’s son (Hill is short for Hillstrom, his middle name) I guess we’ll find out.  Hit the jump for a story that sounds better than one involving a fucking dome.

I have yet to love one Ryuhei Kitamura film, but I still like the guy and his films enough that I will continue to check out what ever he does.  You might not know the director’s name but you have probably heard of the cult horror/action film, “Versus”, which he directed back in 2000.  He has since transitioned to Hollywood after tackling one horror icon’s work with last year’s flawed but fun Clive Barker adaptation, “Midnight Meat Train”.  The director is now aiming to adapt another horror icon’s work with an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, “Home Delivery”.  You more after the jump.

As writer/director of “The Shawshank Redemption”, Frank Darabont made one of my favorite films. If the movie ever comes on cable, I’m hooked. Doesn’t matter if I had plans, if I see any part of Andy Dufresne’s story on a screen, I’m in. So when I got the opportunity to talk with the great director backstage at this year’s Saturn Awards, I was extremely excited. Because even though I’ve spoken to many people in Hollywood, getting to talk with Frank Darabont was something I’d always wanted to do.

Anyway, after the jump is my extended conversation. We talked about “The Shawshank Redemption”, why he was at the Saturn Awards, why “Fahrenheit 451″ hasn’t been made yet, and he tells me what else he’s working on. It’s a great interview so take a look: