TNT to adapt Stephen King/Peter Straub novel The Talisman

With broadcast networks having abandoned the TV movie format and killed the mini-series, the cable networks seemed to have taken up the torch, as TNT will adapt the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel The Talisman as a six-hour made for TV movie. This the third time the cable net has dipped into the King catalog, having produced the horrible ‘Salem’s Lot remake and this years Nightmare and Dreamscapes.

For over a decade, Stephen Spielberg has owned the movie rights the book, and has always wanted a big screen version. However, the book is complex and would need a long time to unspool. The mini-series format allows such a chance to flesh out the book.

The Talisman tells the story of Jack Sawyer, a boy who goes on a quest through this world and through a parallel world known as "The Territories," experiencing both good and evil in each. His goal is to obtain a mysterious talisman that will save his dying mother’s life, as well as the life of her "twinner," the Queen of The Territories.

Screenwriter Ehren Kruger (The Ring, Arlington Road) is writing the adaptation. It should air in the early half of 2008.

One wonders if this movie works and is successful, would TNT produce the sequel, The Black House? And while the second book is stand-alone, it is, however, closely connected to King’s Dark Tower series, which has yet to see the light of day for adaptation. And to excise the Crimson King and other Dark Tower references, would ultimately ruin it.