It might be one of the least seenStephen Kingmovies of all time, butChildren of the Corn: Runawayquietly marked the end of his weirdest trend.Stephen King moviesran the gamut in quality from classics likeThe ShiningandThe Shawshank Redemption, all the way down to King’s only directorial offering,Maximum Overdrive.
One thingfans of King may have noticed is that there aren’t many movie sequels to his work. There have been notable ones, likeShiningsequelDoctor SleeporThe Rage: Carrie 2, but they’re more of an exception. After all, nobody is really asking forMore MiseryorStand by Me… Again.
King once revealed in a 1992Fangoriainterview that early in his career, he was often pressured into including sequel rights when optioning his novels to producers.King didn’t particularly want to do this and has little love for follow-ups that aren’t directly based on his writing, which only use his name as a selling point.
Children Of The Corn: Runaway Finally Ended The Ripoff Stephen King Sequel Era
A few examples of these cash grab sequels include theSometimes They Come Back… sequels andtheChildren of the Cornfranchise. Of this saga,King once toldDeadlinethat “I could do without all of the Children of the Corn sequels.”
In that sense, 2018’sChildren of the Corn: Runaway is notable as being the last of these King-free follow-ups. Like some of the laterHellraisersequels,Runawaywas a cheapie sequel that feels like it was produced for the sole purpose of Dimension Films holding onto the franchise rightsbefore they expired.
The story follows a woman who ran away from the titular cult of killer children, but has to confront her past years later when her own child is threatened.Children of the Corn: Runawayis neither the best nor the worst of a seriesthat was, at its best, just B-movie shlock.
Children of the Corn: Runawaydirector John Gulager created Dimension’sFeasttrilogy, with the original film being the subject ofProject Greenlightseason 3.
There are some real stinkers in the sagas, butwhileRunawayisn’t particularly good, it’s at leasttryingsomething different.It’s more of a psychological thriller than the other entries, and largely eschews gore for character drama. It’s one of the better latter-dayChildren of the Cornoutings, but again, that’s faint praise.
Why Stephen King Stopped Signing Off On Sequels
In the aforementionedFangoriainterview,King was angry about the existence ofPet Sematary Two. To the author,this sequel merely remade the originalPet Semataryand he didn’t like that it was being using his name. Says King,
I read the script - or as much of it as I could stand - and I read enough to realize that it was exactly like the first Pet Sematary with different characters. I don’t approve of [Pet Sematary 2] and I didn’t want it made. I hope the people who read FANGORIA, the people who read my books and anyone who likes my stuff will stay away from this picture. And this is one that I will not see myself.
This interview reveals his regrets about giving away sequel rights to so many of his books, and he vowed to stop the practice followingPet Sematary Two. Still,it took a long time for these cash grabs to dry up, withRunawaycoming 26 years after hisPet Sematary Twocomplaints.
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In the meantime, there were unwantedMangler,CarrieandLawnmower Mansequels, nearly all of which were cheap straight-to-video offerings or TV movies.Ironically,Pet Sematary Twois one of the better horror movies on that list, which is at least true to the themes of King’s bookwhile having some gruesome scenes.
How The Children Of The Corn Series Ran For So Long
Despite the franchise going STV from the second entry onwards,theChildren of the Cornseries totals 11 movies. That includes a TV movie remake of King’s short storyanda 2023 reboot fromThe Beekeeperscreenwriter Kurt Wimmer.
At the height of the franchise’s popularity in the 1990s, entries were being pumped out every one or two years.These sequels also gave early roles to future stars like Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes and Naomi Watts.
It’s by far the long-running property based on a King book, and so many were made for the simple reason that they were cheap to produce and profitable on video and DVD.Later entries, such asGenesisandRunaway,were likely made to retain the rightswhile generating a quick, low-investment profit.
The rights were probably being kept with an eye towards a potential theatrical revival, which never came. Just like theAmityvilleseries, it would be tricky to see how to relaunch the property after so many bad sequels milked the concept dry. Still, given King’s evergreen popularity, another remake shouldn’t be ruled out.
Stephen King Has A Simple Rule For Sequels Now
King is no stranger to bad movies being produced from his work. He’s directly responsible forMaximum Overdrive, but there have been dozens of others, fromGraveyard ShifttoDreamcatcherand beyond.One of King’s complaints about the ripoff sequels era was that most of them weren’t actually based on his writing.
TheChildren of the CornorManglerfranchises took the basic concept of his original stories and spun them off in very new directions. They were happy to plaster “From the mind of Stephen King!” on the VHS boxes, but he often had zero involvement in their creation.
Still, people who watched these films based on his name might not understand that distinction.The odds of these rogue sequels happening afterChildren of the Corn: Runawayare now close to nil, as King has reacquired the rights to most of his novels, includingChristineandFirestarter.
For producers looking to make sequels to a King movie, it will need to be based on something he’s written.IT: Chapter 2was fine because it was adapting the second half of his mammoth novel, while prequelPet Sematary: Bloodlineswas based on a key chapter from the book.
So,Children of the Corn: Runawayquietly marked the close of a weird chapter in King adaptations. This is the most significant thing about it, but again, the tiny budget sequel at least put forth a valiant effort to make something interesting.
Children of the Corn: Runaway
Cast
Children of the Corn: Runaway follows Ruth, a young pregnant woman who flees a violent child cult in the Midwest. Striving to shield her son from her traumatic past, she settles in Oklahoma, only to find herself pursued by a sinister force, compelling her to confront the lurking danger.
Children of the Corn
Children of the Corn is a long-running horror franchise that began in 1984 with the Linda Hamilton-led film, Children of the Corn. The first film was based on Stephen King’s 1977 short story of the same name. Despite the 11 films in the franchise mostly getting negative reviews, the franchise has continued, most recently with the 2020 reboot.
Stephen King
Discover the latest news and filmography for Stephen King, known for The Dark Tower series, The Stand, IT, The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, the Bill Hodges trilogy, and more.
