Storm of the Century

{{short description|1999 horror TV miniseries directed by Craig R. Baxley}}

{{for-multi|the 1993 storm event|1993 Storm of the Century|other uses|Storm of the Century (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Stormcentury.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Artwork for miniseries

| genre = Drama
Horror
Fantasy
Thriller

| runtime = 257 min.

| writer = Stephen King

| developer =

| producer = Thomas H. Brodek

| director = Craig R. Baxley

| executive_producer = Stephen King
Mark Carliner

| starring = Tim Daly
Colm Feore
Debrah Farentino
Casey Siemaszko
Jeffrey DeMunn

| music = Gary Chang

| editor = Sonny Baskin

| cinematography = David Connell

| country = United States

| company = Mark Carliner Productions
Greengrass Productions

| language = English

| network = ABC

| first_aired = {{start date|1999|2|14}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1999|2|18}}

| budget = $35,000,000

| num_episodes = 3

}}

Storm of the Century, alternatively known as Stephen King's Storm of the Century, is a 1999 American horror television miniseries written by Stephen King and directed by Craig R. Baxley. Unlike many other television adaptations of King's work, Storm of the Century was not based on a novel but was an original screenplay written by the author and directly produced for television. King described the screenplay as a "novel for television". The screenplay was published as a mass-market book in February 1999 prior to the TV broadcast of the miniseries.

King has called Storm of the Century his personal favorite of all the TV productions related to his works.{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2560238/the-stands-stephen-king-reveals-his-favorite-tv-project-and-its-an-unexpected-choice|title=The Stand's Stephen King Reveals His Favorite TV Project, And It's An Unexpected Choice|first=Eric|last=Eisenberg|work=CinemaBlend|date=December 15, 2020|access-date=December 16, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/arts/television/stephen-king-adaptations-the-stand.html|title=Stephen King Has Thoughts About Stephen King TV Shows|first=Calum|last=Marsh|work=The New York Times|date=14 December 2020|access-date=16 November 2024}}

Plot

As the people of Little Tall Island, Maine prepare for a powerful blizzard in 1989, elderly resident Martha Clarendon is brutally murdered by a menacing stranger. Town manager Robbie Beals investigates, and the stranger terrifies him by relating shameful secrets from his past. Mike Anderson, a supermarket manager and part-time constable, arrests the stranger, who identifies himself as André Linoge. Linoge seems to know the names and morbid secrets of all the island's residents, and is particularly interested in Mike's son Ralphie, who has a birthmark on his nose. Yet he gives no hint of his own background, saying only, "Give me what I want, and I'll go away." While sitting in a jail cell, Linoge possesses the minds of several townspeople, causing suicides and a murder. He then escapes the jail in the form of a wizened old man and repeats his demand before disappearing into the storm.

The residents take shelter from the storm in the town hall. As they sleep, Linoge appears on the televisions as a televangelist and lectures them on the consequences of refusing to accommodate a stranger. The residents have the same dream in which authorities find the island deserted after the storm and the word "Croaton" carved on a tree. A news reporter connects the disappearance to the lost Roanoke colony. Meanwhile Mike dreams that the townspeople walk into the ocean and drown. The next day, Linoge causes three residents to vanish while everyone is watching the lighthouse collapse. Two die and the third, Angie Carver, is discovered alive but visibly aged. Ralphie goes missing and, when found in a closet, says that he was with Linoge. With each death and abduction, Linoge sends his demand again.

The town's children fall under a spell and go to sleep, dreaming that they are flying through the clouds with Linoge. That evening Mike finds Linoge inside the town hall holding a resident hostage. Amused by Mike's sympathy for the townspeople, Linoge says that they are all sinners and criminals who merely pretend to be decent. He tells Mike to arrange a town meeting at 9:00 that night and escapes again. When the meeting gathers, Linoge tells the residents that he has lived thousands of years and, having grown old, and sick, he wants a child whom he can raise to be a sorcerer like him. He cannot take a child by force, but the dream that the residents had will come true if they refuse. He leaves them to debate for half an hour. Mike urges the people to stand up to Linoge and is horrified when all of them, even his wife Molly, decide to give in. Linoge returns and presides over a lottery in which Ralphie is chosen. Taking his warlock form once more, Linoge contemptuously thanks the residents and warns them never to speak about what has happened. He then walks out of the town hall with Ralphie in his arms and flies into the night sky. Mike rushes outside and falls to his knees in the snow begging for Ralphie back.

In an epilogue, Mike leaves Little Tall after his marriage to Molly falls apart. He returns to college and becomes a United States Marshal in San Francisco. Molly divorces Mike and later marries Hatch, the new town constable who was Mike's deputy. Several residents of Little Tall die after struggling with remorse. One day Linoge and Ralphie walk past Mike in Chinatown, Ralphie having become corrupted and evil. Mike considers telling Molly what he saw, but accepts that some truths are best kept as secrets.

Cast

{{Cast listing|

Tim Daly as Constable Michael "Mike" Anderson
Debrah Farentino as Molly Anderson
Dyllan Christopher as Ralph Emerick "Ralphie" Anderson
Colm Feore as Andre Linoge / Reporter / Televangelist
Jeffrey DeMunn as Town Manager Robert "Robbie" Beals
Nada Despotovich as Sandra "Sandy" Beals
Spencer Breslin as Donny Beals
Denis Forest as Kirk Freeman
Nicky Guadagni as Jenna Freeman
Julianne Nicholson as Katrina "Kat" Withers
Casey Siemaszko as Alton "Hatch" Hatcher
Soo Garay as Melinda Hatcher
Skye McCole Bartusiak as Pippa Hatcher
Ron Perkins as Peter Godsoe
Becky Ann Baker as Ursula Godsoe
Cayda Rubin as Sally Godsoe
Nancy Beatty as Octavia Godsoe
Richard Fitzpatrick as Jonas Stanhope
Kathleen Chalfant as Joanna Stanhope
Myra Carter as Cora Stanhope
Rita Tuckett as Martha Claredon
Christopher Marren as Henry Bright
Tyler Bannerman as Frank Bright
Adam Zolotin as Davey Hopewell
Gaylyn Britton as Mary Hopewell
Michael Rhoades as Stan Hopewell
Steve Rankin as Jack Carver
Torri Higginson as Angela Carver
Stephen Joffe as Buster Carver
Kay Tremblay as Robbie Beals' false mother
Adam LeFevre as Ferd Andrews
Peter MacNeill as Sonny Brautigan
Beth Dixon as Tess Merchant
Leif Anderson as Johnny Harriman
Marcia Laskowski as Linda St. Pierre
Harley English-Dixon as Heidi St. Pierre
Gerard Parkes as Orville Boucher
Richard Blackburn as Andy Robichaux
Jeremy Jordan as William "Billy" Soames
Lynne Griffin as Jane Kingsbury
Stephen King as plaintiff attorney

}}

Production

The screenplay for the miniseries was written by Stephen King expressly for television. The screenplay was published as a mass-market book by Pocket Books just prior to the initial airing of Storm of the Century on ABC.Storm of the Century - An Original Screenplay, Pocket Books, February 1999 The book included photographs of the TV miniseries. The book contains an introduction in which King describes the genesis of the idea as it occurred to him in late 1996. Beginning to write it in December 1996, he initially debated if the story should be either a novel or a screenplay. He described the result as a "novel for television"."Introduction", Storm of the Century, Stephen King ({{ISBN|978-0965796934}}) A hardcover edition, written as a screenplay rather than "prose", was published concurrently by the Book of the Month Club.

Storm of the Century was filmed in Southwest Harbor, Maine and Toronto in 1998.{{Cite web |last=Fries |first=Laura |date=February 9, 1999 |title=Stephen King's Storm of the Century |url=https://variety.com/1999/tv/reviews/stephen-king-s-storm-of-the-century-1200456641/ |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=Variety}}

Release and reception

Storm of the Century aired on ABC on February 14–18, 1999. It was released on DVD on June 22 the same year.{{cite AV media | title=Storm of the Century| publisher=Lions Gate | date=June 22, 1999 | people=Baxley, Craig R. (director), King, Stephen (writer) | medium=DVD|isbn=1573625779}}

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 7.33/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Chilling performances and an even darker moral dilemma shelter Storm of the Century's somewhat long-winded tale from ever being anything less than watchable."{{Cite web|title=Storm of the Century: Miniseries|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/storm_of_the_century/s01|language=en|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=December 22, 2020}}

Director Mike Flanagan has cited Storm of the Century as a major influence on his 2021 Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass.{{cite web | url=https://flanaganfilm.tumblr.com/post/700410529968226304/hey-there-curious-ifhow-stephen-kings-storm-of | title=Mike Flanagan }}

U.S. Television Ratings:

class="wikitable" !No. !Title !Original air date !U.S. viewers (millions){{Cite news\|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-feb-20-ca-9771-story.html\|title=Arts And Entertainment Reports From The Times, News Services And The Nation's Press.\|last=HAITHMAN\|first=DIANE\|date=1999-02-20\|work=Los Angeles Times\|access-date=2018-03-06\|language=en-US\|issn=0458-3035}}
1 \|Storm of the Century, Part 1 \|February 14, 1999 \|19.4
2 \|Storm of the Century, Part 2 \|February 15, 1999 \|18.9
3 \|Storm of the Century, Part 3 \|February 18, 1999 \|19.2

class="wikitable"

!No.

!Title

!Original air date

!U.S. viewers

(millions){{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-feb-20-ca-9771-story.html|title=Arts And Entertainment Reports From The Times, News Services And The Nation's Press.|last=HAITHMAN|first=DIANE|date=1999-02-20|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2018-03-06|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}

|Storm of the Century, Part 1

|February 14, 1999

|19.4

|Storm of the Century, Part 2

|February 15, 1999

|18.9

|Storm of the Century, Part 3

|February 18, 1999

|19.2