Ragesh Dipu
Legendary and Alex Ross Perry join hands for the film adaptation of the Stephen King story ‘Rest Stop.’ The movie, which is written and directed by Perry, is touted as a cat and mouse thriller. ‘Rest Stop’ is the second Stephen King adaptation after Paramount’s ‘Pet Sematary.’ Craig Flores produces the movie for his Bread & Circuses and Alex Garcia and Ali Mendes oversee the project on behalf of Legendary.
King’s ‘Rest Stop’ was first published in the December 2003 issue of Esquire Magazine. King bagged the National Magazine Award for Fiction in 2004 for the short. The story also appeared in his the 2008 collection, ‘Just After Sunset.’ The plot follows the turbulent journey of two women after a chance encounter at a highway rest stop, and hence the title.
Perry is best known as the writer and director of the movie ‘Her Smell’ starring Elisabeth Moss. The musical drama garnered positive reviews when premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. ‘Her Smell’ hit theaters on April 12 to mixed to positive responses from viewers. Apart from Moss, the movie features Cara Delevingne and Dan Stevens in major roles. Perry is also known for ‘The Color Wheel,’ ‘Listen Up Philip’ and ‘Queen of Earth.’ He has also co-written Disney’s ‘Christopher Robin.’
‘Rest Stop’ follows another King story, ‘Pet Sematary,’ on its way to the screen. ‘Pet Sematary,’ which is currently in theaters, is based on Stephen King’s one of the darkest novels of the same name. The movie adaptation opened earlier this month to rave reviews, collecting a significant sum from the box office. The 1983 novel is often described by the novelist as ‘the darkest,’ and a fan favorite for many Stephen King enthusiasts. Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer direct ‘Pet Sematary’ with Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz and John Lithgow in the lead roles. While the other details of ‘Rest Stop’ movie are still unknown, there are plenty of King adaptations in the pipeline like ‘It: Chapter Two,’ ‘James Wan’s ‘The Tommyknockers,’ Amazon’s ‘Dark Tower,’ and J.J. Abrams’ ‘Lisey’s Story.’
‘Rest Stop’ is popular like any Stephen King stories. The story follows a novelist who stops at a highway rest stop. There, he witnesses a scene of brutal domestic violence. The novelist, who writes mystery thrillers under a pseudonym, intervenes the scene as his heroic alter ego wakes up into action. But the intervention leads him deep down the path of horror than he expected. Alex Ross Perry has the challenge of tinkering a short into an equally thrilling feature. Known as a prolific writer, actor, and director, Perry’s script will evidently diverge from the short story. According to a Variety report, the movie features ‘the twisted journey of two women after an encounter at a rest stop.’ Which indicates that there will be certainly a gender swap and the plot will follow two lead characters instead of one.
Earlier, Perry lamented in an interview about the state of indie flicks and the future of his filmmaking career. By the age of 34, Perry has delivered beautifully crafted and mysteriously narrated relationship dramas that evoke memories of Robert Altman, John Cassavetes, Ingmar Bergman, and Woody Allen. His style is not readily accessible to a critical approach. Instead, the director let films speak for themselves. ‘A lot of movies that I see and that I love—repertory movies and movies that have stood the test of time—this is how they function. And they certainly last a lot longer and mean a lot more to me and to others than something that offers much more immediate, in-your-face pleasures,’ says Perry in the interview.
