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Stephen King: ‘The Mist’ TV Adaptation Receives Government Funding, Something Big Is In The Works

By Dustin Kemp
Published on: 15:30 PST, Jul 20, 2016

It has been established for several weeks now that a TV series adaptation of Stephen King novella The Mist will be shot in Nova Scotia, but it was only very recently that CTV News Atlantic reported that the Canadian government is actually allocating a huge sum of money to the filming — $5.9 million, to be exact. And when the government funds a TV shoot, you can safely assume something big is in the works. Stephen King fans and TV buffs have more than enough reason to get excited.

Apparently, the Nova Scotia government has an annual fund of $11.5 million allotted by the general Canadian government to offer as incentives to films shooting in the area. The idea is that offering financial assistance will entice filmmakers to choose Nova Scotia for their projects. Ongoing filming pumps lots of money into the local economy and lends Nova Scotian locations more exposure on an international scale, both of which are obviously things the government would like to see.

Playing home to a highly recognizable — and highly funded — project like a Stephen King adaptation is exactly the kind of high-profile filming publicity the province’s government wants, which is why they are allocating so much of their film incentive budget.

It is not too rare for Nova Scotia to give a small amount of money to local productions — the new season of Trailer Park Boys is being gifted $1.5 million — but the fact that they are dedicating over half of their $11.5 million fund to the Stephen King adaptation, which has no previous seasons and no guarantee of success, means that the government must, for some reason, have very high hopes for the series. It is possible that the reason is simply because the series is attached to such a big name as Stephen King — that’ll put a lot of butts in the seats right there.

Not only that, but The Mist is the highest-budget production ever shot in Nova Scotia, costing $22.8 million.

Mark Furey, Nova Scotia’s minister of Business, hopes that the gamble the government is taking on Stephen King’s The Mist, as envisioned by Spike TV, will pay off by helping to revitalize the dying Nova Scotian film industry.

“We’ve worked very hard with the film industry representatives to restore confidence in the industry,” Furey says.

Others who oppose the allocation argue that Nova Scotia’s film industry is dead, and not even a big-budget Stephen King adaptation can save it.

“What we see is an industry that’s a fraction of what it was two years ago,” said Jamie Baillie, one government official who is not in favor of the filming incentive fund.

“That while the rest of the country [is] moving ahead, making great movies and creating jobs for their people, Nova Scotia has shrunk. That’s the reality.”

The Inquisitr reported last month that Spike TV’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist is filming in Bridgeville Mall, located in Bedford, Nova Scotia. The filming location revealed that, unlike Frank Darabont’s 2007 film adaptation of the Stephen King masterpiece, this version will take place in a very large store that will basically develop a contained environment having nothing to do with the titular mist surrounding the building. This idea was basically confirmed by the detailed character descriptions relayed by Deadline, which show character identity will be one part of Spike’s series that differs drastically from Stephen King’s work.

In another report from early May, the Inquisitr revealed that the series will be headed up by superstar director Adam Bernstein, executive produced by big-time Stephen King fan Christian Torpe, and developed by Weinstein Company.

Not much else is known at this time about the next big Stephen King TV adaptation. Will it be the huge success on which the Nova Scotia government is banking? Will it be critically panned like Under the Dome, the last network TV series Stephen King adaptation?

What do you think? Stephen King fan or not, leave your opinion in the comments section below.

Also, check out the trailer for the 2007 version of Stephen King’s The Mist below.

[Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images]

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