Surprise: this morning, Netflix announced the premiere date for Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, the John Lee Hancock-directed adaptation of the novella of the same name which was included in If It Bleeds, Stephen King’s most recent anthology collection. It’s not the scariest story in that collection, mind you, but it is debatably the best story in that collection.
Here’s an official plot synopsis:
When Craig, a young boy living in a small town (Jaeden Martell) befriends Mr. Harrigan, an older, reclusive billionaire (Donald Sutherland), the two begin to form an unlikely bond over their love of books and reading. But when Mr. Harrigan sadly passes away, Craig discovers that not everything is dead and gone and strangely finds himself able to communicate with his friend from the grave through the iPhone in this supernatural coming-of-age story that shows that certain connections are never lost.
Hancock feels like a good fit for this particular story, given that so many of this director’s previous films have leaned toward the sentimental side of things (see also: The Blind Side, The Rookie, Saving Mr. Banks). Star Jaeden Martell’s also a nice fit here, having previously appeared in Andrรฉs Muschietti’s adaptation of IT. And as for Donald Sutherland, well, have you ever been disappointed to see Donald Sutherland show up in a movie? Me, neither.
Sadly, this appears to be the only King adaptation we’ll be getting for Spooky Season this year (A previous iteration of this year’s release schedule had WB/New Line’s ‘Salem’s Lot premiering in September, but that one got booted into April before falling into a sort of limbo-like state where having firm release dates is illegal. Still no word on what the hell’s going on with that one), but hey: something’s better than nothing, and this one’s sounding pretty good.
Stay tuned for more on Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, which hits Netflix on October 5th (and, indeed, ‘Salem’s Lot), as further updates roll in, King nerds.
