Backstory more interesting than reels in ‘The Cell’

As someone who anxiously waits for studios to announce their slate of releases each year, I always find it curious when a film that has all the hallmarks of a potential blockbuster is dribbled out quietly onto streaming video with nary a whisper.

Such is the case with “The Cell,” an adaptation from a novel that was rumored to be in development more than a decade ago with a then-powerful roster of big names: Stephen King (who wrote the novel and the screenplay); Eli Roth (still riding his “Hostel” high back then); the Weinstein brothers (who had carved quite the niche in horror films at the time); and later John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson (who had successfully starred in another KIng adaptation, “1408”). Plus... zombies.

For those unfamiliar with the source, “The Cell” was originally penned in 2006 by King (its age already defined by the blood-soaked flip-phone on its cover). It focused on Clayton Riddell (played by Cusack in the film) who is coming home to a damaged marriage when a “pulse” goes out over a global cellular network and reduces all cellphone users to mindless, insatiable zombies (insert social commentary here). Many critics praised the book as one of King’s best in years, and it was quickly picked up by the Weinsteins’ distribution company, Dimension Films, which pegged Roth to direct.

Roth was fresh from his horror hit “Hostel,” and the marriage of King’s pessimistic prose and Roth’s take-no-prisoners style had perked up the ears of many a fan.

Roth was equally as excited, and he was quoted on King fan site Lilja’s Library as saying: “I'm so excited, I wish the script was ready right now so I could start production. But it'll get written (or at least a draft will) while I'm doing ‘Hostel 2,’ and then I can go right into it. It should feel like an ultra-violent event movie.”

In just over a year, Roth dropped out. Citing the ubiquitous “creative differences,” the director and the studio had seemingly parted ways and the story’s future in film was left uncertain.

In 2009, it was announced that “The Cell” was instead going to be crafted into a miniseries, a format that met with some success over the years. John Harrison, director of “Earth 2,” and “Tales from the Darkside,” was now placed in the driver’s seat. But, like a dropped call, there was nothing but silence after this announcement.

Three years later, a signal from “The Cell” was once again received, and now plans were back on to adapt it as a feature-length film. Perhaps it was the success of “The Walking Dead” series and the omnipresence of zombies in popular culture; whatever the reason, the project was resurrected with fervor and it was announced that John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson were to be the featured leads.

The two actors had worked magic together with King’s “1408,” so their inclusion brought additional anticipation to the project. Meanwhile, Dimension Films’ parent company, Miramax, had been disbanded, and the former president of the company, Richard Saperstein, took the rights to “The Cell” with him (the film has no fewer than 18 producers on the final cut) to his production house, Genre Company. It was then announced that “The Cell” would make its debut at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Two additional script doctors were brought into the fold to rewire some aspects of King’s screenplay that were not connecting with audiences. Adam Alleca, who wrote the remake of “Last House on the Left,” and Cusack’s buddy Mark Leyner, who wrote Cusack’s film “War, Inc.” were tasked with the duties. Paranormal Activity 2’s” director Tod Williams was placed at the helm.

That year’s Cannes festival came and went, but no sign of “The Cell.”

Late in 2015, the studio announced that “The Cell” would indeed make its world premiere in the UK at the popular Glasgow Frightfest in February 2016, in the hopes that the film could land a potential U.S. distributor.

Just one month before its Feb. 25 debut, it was pulled from the lineup.

On April 27 of this year, with little to no fanfare, a trailer for the film was dumped online through tiny distribution houses called Cargo and Benaroya Productions. It should be noted that Benaroya Productions has a history of pulling the plug on a number of its productions, including “Wake” with Bruce Willis, “Idol’s Eye” with Robert Pattinson and Robert DeNiro, “Elvis & Nixon” (which was later picked up), “Your Voice in My Head” with Emma Watson, “King of the Kastle” with Clive Owen, and “A Fall from Grace” directed by David Lynch’s daughter, Jennifer.

So here we are with “The Cell’s” final incarnation for all to see on streaming video. Its scars are deep and visible: unfinished, cut-rate special effects, wretched editing, and an ending that would be less jarring if it was fused on the reel with bubble gum and spit. Both King and Cusack have, unsurprisingly, publicly distanced themselves from the film in recent interviews, and there is a limited theatrical release set for July for those with iron endurance.

 “Cell” is yet another example of a film whose backstory is far more interesting than anything you will see in the resulting reels. But after learning about its route to release, it’s fairly simple to see just why and how “Cell” gets lost in translation.