Bag of Bones

Bag of Bones
Miniseries title card (A&E TV Network)
Genre	Horror, Drama, Mystery
Directed by	Mick Garris
Produced by	Michael Mahoney
Screenplay by	Matt Venne
Based on	Bag of Bones by Stephen King
Starring	Pierce Brosnan Annabeth Gish Melissa George Anika Noni Rose Caitlin Carmichael
Music by	Nicholas Pike
Editing by	Andrew Cohen Patrick McMahon
Country	United States
Language	English
Original channel	A&E Network
Release date	December 11, 2011 (2011-12-11) (United States)
No. of episodes	2
Official website

Bag of Bones or Stephen King's Bag of Bones, is a two-part American horror television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's novel. Directed by Mick Garris from Matt Venne's screenplay, the series was first aired in 2011 on the A&E Network.

Cast

• Pierce Brosnan as Mike Noonan
• Melissa George as Mattie
• Annabeth Gish as Jo Noonan
• Anika Noni Rose as Sara Tidwell
• William Schallert as Max Devore
• Caitlin Carmichael as Kyra Devore
• David Sheftell as Max Devore (young)
• Gary Levert as George Footman
• Jason Priestley as Marty
• Matt Frewer as Sid Noonan

Plot

Best-selling novelist Mike Noonan (Pierce Brosnan) is overcome with grief over the deaths of his wife, Jo, and their unborn child. Writer's block and nightmares force him to return to the couple's former summer home beside a lake in western Maine. While there, he becomes friends with young widow, Mattie (Melissa George), and her daughter, Kyra (Caitlin Carmichael). He learns the mother is in a fierce custody battle with her father-in-law, Max (William Schallert), and Mike becomes involved in it. His ability to write quickly returns, in addition to more nightmares. At the house, he is visited periodically by the spirit of a blues singer, Sara Tidwell (Anika Noni Rose). Through her visits, his nightmarish dreams, and clues hidden in his previously unpublished work, he learns truths about himself and the town.

Background

The project started as a film directed by Mick Garris and written by screenwriter Matt Venne. The filmmakers had been hoping to shoot the film in Maine, but due to the failure of a proposed tax incentive in June 2010 the project was cancelled. In 2011, A&E Network stated in a press release that they would start filming a miniseries adapted from the novel with Pierce Brosnan in the leading role. Filming started August 2011 in Nova Scotia. Singer Kelly Rowland was originally cast as the role of Sara Tidwell but was replaced by Anika Noni Rose for unknown reasons.^[1]

Critical and popular reception

Entertainment Weekly's Stephan Lee thought the miniseries was "occasionally hokey, and Brosnan [overworked] his mad cackling, but the production [was] never less than creepily engaging."^[2] Troy Patterson of Slate called it "too campy," adding: "'Bag of Bones' attempts to say something about care-giving and leave-taking. But, much of the time ... it’s busy trying to scare the pants off you and failing in the attempt."^[3] CraveOnline's Blair Marnell gave the miniseries a 6 out of 10 rating, commenting: "The greatest weakness of "Bag of Bones" is that it seems to be too intent upon maintaining the pace of King's novel to the detriment of the onscreen story."^[4]

Part One was watched by 3.37 million viewers and had a 1.1 with the 18-49 age range, Part Two dropped slightly to 2.99 million with a 0.9 rating.^[5][6]

Connection to King's other works

• In the TV miniseries, the book signing briefly features a fan who is his "number one fan" as Jo teases for him to "have fun with Annie Wilkes" (of another of King's hits, Misery. )
• In a dream sequence that take place in the woods near the lake house, a little girl takes Mike's hand. She wears a Boston Red Sox baseball cap, which recalls The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
• Matt Frewer, who played Trashcan Man in The Stand, plays the brother of Mike Noonan.
• During the conversation between Mike and his agent Marty about writing a new book Marty mentions "there's even talk of a newly discovered Bachman book" - Richard Bachman being Stephen King's alternate pen name for some books.
• Mike is looking for clues in a crossword puzzle and comes up with the phrase "Booya moon"; this is a fictional world in King's novel Lisey's Story.
• Mike briefly has a conversation with Ralph Roberts, who is busy solving a crossword puzzle, and notes that the old man has the look of an insomniac. Ralph Roberts is the main character of Stephen King's Insomnia. Both novels occur in the town of Derry, Maine.

References

External links

• Bag of Bones at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Bag of Bones Director Mick Garris

v t e Media based on Stephen King works Films Individual films The Shining (1980) Cujo (1983) The Dead Zone (1983) Christine (1983) Cat's Eye (1985) Silver Bullet (1985) Stand by Me (1986) The Running Man (1987) Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990) Graveyard Shift (1990) Misery (1990) Sleepwalkers (1992) The Dark Half (1993) Needful Things (1993) The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Dolores Claiborne (1995) Thinner (1996) The Night Flier (1997) Apt Pupil (1998) The Green Mile (1999) Hearts in Atlantis (2001) Dreamcatcher (2003) Secret Window (2004) Riding the Bullet (2004) 1408 (2007) The Mist (2007) Dolan's Cadillac (2009) Film series Carrie Carrie (1976) The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) Carrie (2002) Carrie (TBA) Creepshow Creepshow (1982) Creepshow 2 (1987) Children of the Corn Children of the Corn (1984) The Final Sacrifice (1993) Urban Harvest (1995) The Gathering (1996) Fields of Terror (1998) Isaac's Return (1999) Revelation (2001) Children of the Corn (2009) Firestarter Firestarter (1984) Rekindled (2002) Trucks Maximum Overdrive (1986) Trucks (1997) Pet Sematary Pet Sematary (1989) Pet Sematary Two (1992) The Lawnmower Man The Lawnmower Man (1992) Beyond Cyberspace (1996) The Mangler The Mangler (1995) The Mangler 2 (2001) The Mangler Reborn (2005) Television Single films or miniseries Gramma (1986) Sorry, Right Number (1987) It (1990) Golden Years (1991) The Tommyknockers (1993) The Stand (1994) The Langoliers (1995) The Shining (1997) Quicksilver Highway (1997) The Revelations of Becka Paulson (1997) Storm of the Century (1999) Kingdom Hospital (2004) Stephen King's Desperation (2006) Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006) Bag of Bones (2011) Multiple films or miniseries Salem's Lot Salem's Lot (1979) A Return to Salem's Lot (1987) 'Salem's Lot (2004) Sometimes They Come Back Sometimes They Come Back (1991) Sometimes They Come Back... Again (1996) Sometimes They Come Back… for More (1998) Rose Red Rose Red (2002) The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (2003) Series The Dead Zone (2002–2007) Haven (2010–present) Book:Media based on Stephen King works