Stephen King fans get their first look at the upcoming film adaptation of Mr. Harrigan's Phone, a chilling and heart-wrenching tale of friendship that reaches beyond the grave. Ahead of significant King adaptations like The Regulators, Mr. Harrigan's Phone comes to Netflix courtesy of American Horror Story producer Ryan Murphy's deal with the streaming behemoth and is the first of the If It Bleeds novellas to see a screen adaptation come to fruition.
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The story centers on Craig (IT's Jaeden Martell), a teen boy who unexpectedly befriends reclusive billionaire Mr. Harrigan (The Hunger Games' Donald Sutherland). However, when Mr. Harrigan passes away, the bond between the two unlikely friends takes a supernatural turn as Craig discovers that he can communicate with the deceased man through his old iPhone. John Lee Hancock directs the feature adaptation, which King calls "nothing short of brilliant" after seeing a nearly-finished version. The film appears to be completed and ready for its streaming premiere this fall.
Netflix launches its marketing initiative for Mr. Harrigan's Phone through the Tudum companion site, featuring a trove of official images. Readers will see Martell and Sutherland as Craig and Mr. Harrigan, respectively, and some of their costars like Kirby Howell-Baptiste as the endearing Ms. Hart. The gallery also includes two behind-the-scenes photos showcasing Hancock's directing at work. Check out the images below:
10 Images
Interestingly, Hancock also comments on the challenges the team faced in adapting the 80-something page novella (as he puts it) and points out the mid-2000s period setting. The images indicate that the Blind Side director has achieved the nostalgic effect well, depicting King's signature sleepy small town without the burdens of much of today's advanced technology. Unfortunately, the classic King cameo is nowhere within the gallery, but audiences should still be on the lookout when Mr. Harrigan's Phone comes out on Netflix on October 5. Indeed, the marketing focuses on the odd relationship between Craig and his much older friend, Mr. Harrigan, which Hancock compares to other King stories like The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me.
Although Mr. Harrigan's Phone does not appear to be a conventionally scary King adaptation, fans of the acclaimed author's work should still be excited to see an excellent story play out on the screen. Plus, Hancock even promises that it does contain some "good scares" for the horror faithful. After the bomb that was 2022's Firestarter remake and the unfortunate disappearance of Salem's Lot from the Warner Bros. release calendar, King fans need something of quality to tide them over. To that end, Mr. Harrigan's Phone should be a worthwhile adaptation due to its cast of phenomenal actors, a passionate director at the helm, and the approval of the "King of Horror" himself.