The trailer and poster for The Boogeyman, based on the short story of the same name by Stephen King, have been released. The movie, directed by Rob Savage and written by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman, won’t be the first time the short story has been adapted. The first instance was in 1982 as a short film made as part of King’s Dollar Baby program.
For years now, King has been allowing aspiring filmmakers to purchase the rights to his short stories for only a dollar “for purposes of a non-commercial film project.” Some other terms outlined in the contract the filmmaker has to sign is that it be a maximum of forty-five minutes and promotion of the project using the words “Stephen King.”
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The short story was first published in a 1973 issue of Cavalier before being collected in the anthology Night Shift. It concerns a therapy session between Lester Billings and his psychiatrist Dr. Harper, during which Billings recounts how the Boogeyman killed each of his three children. Except (spoilers), the end of the story reveals that Dr. Harper was the Boogeyman in disguise the whole time. (spoilers)
The short film, starring Michael Reid as Billings and Bert Linder as Dr. Harper, isn’t identical to the short story but follows the basic plot beats pretty closely. The full-length 2023 version seems as if it’s going to diverge much more wildly. When speaking early on about the project with MovieWeb back in 2019, Beck said that since it’s a short story, “there’s a huge sandbox that allows Bryan and I to kind of create a whole new story from the beginning.”
The short can be viewed on YouTube.
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The New Film Version
Image via Dread Central
The new synopsis, given by Nerd Stash, that’s been released alongside the new trailer and poster further cements it:
Going off the trailer, which has been helpfully captioned, Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets, Prospect) stars as Sadie, while Vivien Lyra Blair (Obi-Wan Kenobi, We Can Be Heroes) plays Sawyer. Two characters who don’t exist in the short story. In addition, David Dastmalchian (Ant-Man, Gotham) plays Lester, while Chris Messina (The Mindy Project, Birds of Prey) plays Will, aka Dr. Harper.
“High school student Sadie Harper and her younger sister Sawyer are reeling from the recent death of their mother and aren’t getting much support from their father, Will, a therapist who is dealing with his own pain. When a desperate patient unexpectedly shows up at their home seeking help, he leaves behind a terrifying supernatural entity that preys on families and feeds on the suffering of its victims.”
The 2023 version of The Boogeyman is scheduled to be released on June 2. It was initially intended to be released on streaming but will now premiere exclusively in theatres following an enthusiastic test screening. It will only be then that audiences can determine how closely it imitates the source material.
