The Big Picture

• Stephen King's directional debut, Maximum Overdrive, is a campy black comedy where machines turn deadly due to a comet's electromagnetic trail.
• Behind-the-scenes disputes, weather hazards, and accidents plagued King during the film's production.
• King admits his substance abuse led to many production issues, resulting in Maximum Overdrive being his solo directorial venture.

Stephen King has become a fixture in the world of horror due to his prolific literary output, which in turn inspired a number of film and television adaptations. King would eventually step behind the camera to direct Maximum Overdrive, based on his short story "Trucks." Like its source material, Maximum Overdrive explores the aftermath of what happens when a comet's electromagnetic trail brings machines to life...with murderous results. Though the film is infamous for its black comedy — including a moment where someone is killed by a vending machine shooting soda cans — King's behind-the-scenes struggles were just as horrific. The Master of Fear dealt with the weather, stunts gone horribly wrong, and creative disputes with the producer. In fact, the experience was so terrible that it led to Maximum Overdrive being the only film he's directed to date.

Why Stephen King Never Directed Again After 'Maximum Overdrive'

Maximum Overdrive was part of a trio of films based on King's work produced by Dino De Laurentiis; De Laurentiis had previously struck a deal with King that also saw the former producing Firestarter and Cat's Eye. King had written the screenplay for Cat's Eye, which led to his directing Maximum Overdrive. During an oral history conducted by Slash Film. producer Martha De Laurentiis shared, "Dino had given Stephen the opportunity to write his first screenplay. . . Stephen later said to Dino, 'I want to direct.' And Dino said to Stephen, 'Why not? You should.'" But even though King sat in the director's seat, it turned out that he might have been in over his head. Camera assistant Silvia Giulietti elaborated: "Stephen King was not a director. He didn't know where to put the cameras, how to do this. . . Stephen King had a very strong idea about the movie, but he was not able to translate in images, you know what I mean?"

King chalks up his directorial issues to another source: his battle with substance abuse. When he was interviewed for Hollywood's Stephen King, a book chronicling the various adaptations of his work, King was rather blunt: "The problem with that film is that I was coked out of my mind all through production, and I didn't really know what I was doing."

What Went Wrong During 'Maximum Overdrive's Production

During production on Maximum Overdrive, De Laurentiis would exert control over nearly every facet of the film. He had filming take place in North Carolina, so he could hire non-union crews. Though King wanted Bruce Springsteen to play the lead role of Bill Robinson, De Laurentiis instead opted to hire Emilio Estevez. Roberto Croci, who acted as a translator for the Italian crew working on the project, believes that De Laurentiis hiring Estevez was a breaking point for King:

"I can do ten movies for you, Dino, but I want Bruce Springsteen." But Dino say, "Bruce who? Bruce who?" Dino didn't know. He didn't know he was the boss; the man who would change rock music. So Stephen King explain and say, "I want to direct Bruce. This is my movie and the truck driver is Bruce Springsteen." But Dino didn't care. He just say, "I'll get Emilio, Martin's son." When that moment became official—that there was no Bruce Springsteen—Stephen King couldn't give a shit about the movie. That's my opinion.

Creative disputes were far from the only trouble brewing on set, however. Cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi suffered a horrific injury during production; in a scene involving a lawnmower gone haywire, the lawnmower went out of control and struck a wood block. A splinter of wood came loose and struck Nannuzzi in his right eye, which he had referred to as his "shooting eye." After Maximum Overdrive had completed filming, Nannuzzi sued King and De Laurentiis for $18 million dollars, eventually settling out of court.

Production was also impacted by Hurricane Gloria, which led to the cast and crew taking refuge inside a Hilton hotel. "We did have a lot of fun in the hotel. And we were all together. It was very fun, actually. With everyone thinking it was all going to blow apart. But then it didn't. And the hurricane passed. It was kind of anticlimactic," Laura Harrington recalled.

'Maximum Overdrive' Was Critically Panned Upon Release

Maximum Overdrive eventually made it to the silver screen...and was promptly derided for its plot as well as King's direction. Perhaps the most damning observation came from the Washington Post: "'Maximum Overdrive' is the first Stephen King movie to be directed by Big Steve his own self, who proves that he hasn't got an ounce of visual style, the vaguest idea of how to direct actors or the sense that God gave a grapefruit." Recently, Maximum Overdrive underwent a reappraisal as a camp masterpiece due to the black comedy and outlandish kills, along with the unmistakable visual of an 18-wheeler with a grille shaped to resemble Spider-Man's archnemesis, the Green Goblin.

In fact, one filmmaker has offered to do his own take on Maximum Overdrive: King's son Joe Hill. “I would only want to jump into directing if I had a chance to do the reboot of Maximum Overdrive,” Hill said in an interview, citing how he'd update the premise. It wouldn't be the first time that one of King's works has received a modern update, and it would be an interesting passing of the torch.

Maximum Overdrive is available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.

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