The Mist marks the 34th time a Stephen King work has leaped to the big screen (not including short films and foreign movies). But a story from the Master of Horror is no guarantee of box-office success. Here are King's biggest hits and misses, including their box-office take in the year of release, translated into 2007 dollars.
Hits
1. The Green Mile (1999)
Box-office take: $164,501,609
The prison drama cashed in, thanks in part to the marquee value of star Tom Hanks.
2. Carrie (1976)
Take: $122,346,147
The first, and to some the best, King movie. The prom (and Sissy Spacek) never felt creepier.
3. The Shining (1980)
Take: $117,862,409
The second, and to some the best, King movie. Hotels (and Shelley Duvall) never felt
creepier.
4. Misery (1990)
Take: $96,090,879
Spacek earned a nomination for her Carrie, but Kathy Bates is the only actor to win an Oscar for a King flick; she won Best Actress for playing Annie Wilkes.
5. Pet Sematary (1989)
Take: $94,446,101
The first screenplay King adapted from his own novel, it was well-received by horror fans.
6. Stand By Me (1986)
$94,434,067
Short on horror, but long on eighties teen-star power (Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Kiefer Sutherland). Dreamy.
Misses
1. Riding the Bullet (2004)
Box-office take: $143,887
Missed Jonathan Jackson and David Arquette in this one? You weren't alone.
2. The Night Flier (1997)
Take: $155,805
A cynical reporter (Miguel Ferrer) tracks a serial in-flight killer who may just be a vampire. Few movie fans follow him.
3. The Mangler (1995)
Take: $2,336,752
Robert Englund as the owner of a dry-cleaning machine with a taste for human flesh? How was this not a hit?
4. Apt Pupil (1998)
Take: $10,828,382
A surprising failure, given its pedigree (director Bryan Singer, in his first post- The Usual Suspects film, and star Ian McKellen as a former Nazi).
5. Maximum Overdrive (1986)
Take: $13,425,621
The Emilio Estevez vehicle about evil machines didn't make cinematic history. But it left a musical mark: The soundtrack was AC/DC's classic Who Made Who.
6. The Dark Half (1993)
Take: $14,709,668
Timothy Hutton plays a writer literally battling his inner demons.
Notable by its Absence
Despite seven Oscar nominations and a ranking as the 72nd best film of all time by the American Film Institute, The Shawshank Redemption pulled in only $38,143,905, leaving it 15th on the King list.