AppleTV+ - Lisey's story : Stephen King: In His Own Words about Adapting his Best-Selling Book for Apple TV+'s series

By Mulder, 26 may 2021

"Lisey's Story is my favorite of the books and I would love to see that done, especially now that there's a kind of openness on the streaming services on TV and even the cable networks. There's more freedom to do stuff now and when you do a movie from a book, there's this thing that I call the sitting on a suitcase syndrome. That is where you try to pack in all the clothes at once and the suitcase won't close. So it's tough to take a book that is fully textured, and do it in two hours and 10 minutes. But as a TV show you have 10 hours." – Stephen King

This new featurette is from Stephen King about his first self-adaptation of his work from page to screen. The clip takes a deeper look into Lisey's Story — the new Apple TV+ series based on the novel by Stephen King. Explore King's process of adapting the story to the screen and hear from director Pablo Larraín, producer J.J. Abrams and the show's cast on their experience working with the legendary author. The series is based on Stephen's beloved novel by the same name, which stars Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Dane DeHaan, Joan Allen, and more and will be premiering on Apple TV+ on June 4th.

Lisey's Story is an upcoming miniseries based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The series is produced by J. J. Abrams. It is directed by Pablo Larraín and stars Julianne Moore in the title role. Lisey's Story is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on June 4, 2021.

Lisey’s Story is a deeply personal, pensive thriller that follows Lisey Landon (played by Julianne Moore) two years after the death of her husband, famous novelist Scott Landon (played by Clive Owen). A series of unsettling events causes Lisey to face memories of her marriage to Scott that she has deliberately blocked out of her mind. Joan Allen, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dane DeHaan, Ron Cephas Jones and Sung Kang star alongside Moore and Owen.

Directed by Pablo Larraín, “Lisey’s Story" hails from J. J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. In a rare step, every episode of the series was personally written by Stephen King. King, Moore, and Larraín executive produce alongside Abrams, Ben Stephenson and Juan de Dios Larraín.

In April 2019, it was announced that Apple Inc. had acquired the rights to the novel and gave it an eight-episode straight-to-series order to air on Apple TV+, with all episodes scripted by King, to be produced by J. J. Abrams and Bad Robot Productions. In August 2019, Pablo Larraín had signed on to direct the miniseries. In February 2020, it was announced that Darius Khondji had joined the series as cinematographer. Julianne Moore was cast in the leading role of Lisey. In October 2019, Clive Owen was added to the cast, with Joan Allen and Dane DeHaan joining in November, and Sung Kang joining in December. In January 2020, Jennifer Jason Leigh was revealed to be in the cast.[9] When Apple announced a first look of Lisey's Story in February 2021, it was also revealed that Ron Cephas Jones was in the cast.

Filming began in October 2019 at the historic Van Liew-Suydam House in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. In December 2019, filming took place in the village of Tuckahoe in Westchester County, New York. In mid-March 2020, filming was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Larraín said that a few weeks of shooting were left before the shutdown occurred. In September 2020, Julianne Moore shared that filming for her character was complete. On January 6, 2021, Apple announced that Lisey's Story will premiere in 2021. The following month, Apple revealed a first look of the series, where it was announced that Lisey's Story would have a mid-2021 premiere.

Synopsis :
Lisey lost her husband Scott two years ago, after a twenty-five year marriage of profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey knew there was a place Scott went—a place that both terrified and healed him, could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it’s Lisey’s turn to face Scott’s demons, to go to that terrifying place known as Boo’ya Moon. What begins as a widow’s effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited.

Lisey's Story
Based on Lisey's Story by Stephen King
Written by Stephen King
Directed by Pablo Larraín
Starring Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Joan Allen, Dane DeHaan, Sung Kang, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ron Cephas Jones
Executive producers : Stephen King, Julianne Moore, J. J. Abrams, Ben Stephenson, Juan De Dios Larraín
Cinematography : Darius Khondji
Production companies : Bad Robot Productions, Warner Bros. Television
Distributor : Apple Inc.
Release Date : June 4, 2021 (World)