The newly-announcedAlan Wakehorror movie will beatStephen Kingto one thing he’s not yet done in his long and prolific career. Annapurna Pictures announced it was pairing with video game developer Remedy to bring two of its video game franchises to life. One of thosevideo games getting the movie treatment isAlan Wake; the other isControl. Interestingly enough, the studio is also co-financing a video game sequel to the latter.
As to the former, the originalAlan Wakegame debuted in 2010 and became an instant hit, with the survival horror thriller capturing players' imaginations thanks to its interesting story.Alan Wake 2took 13 long years in development, but it was worth it:it became Remedy’s fastest-selling game of all time and won multiple categories at the 2023 Video Game Awards, as well as being nominated for Game of the Year. With its premise, theAlan Wakegames have echoes of a neat narrative trickStephen King pulled off in hisDark Towerbooks20 years ago.
The Alan Wake Movie: Everything We Know
The award-winning video game Alan Wake is the latest to get a movie adaptation, and there are already a ton of exciting updates.
The Alan Wake Video Game Franchise Explained
He’s A Character Trapped In One Of His Books - Sort Of
TheAlan Wakevideo game series has a very cool premise that’s also extremely meta. The titular character, Alan Wake, is a novelist whose crime thrillers have made him a bestselling author. Things take a dark turn, however, when his wife goes missing while they’re on vacation in the small town of Bright Falls, Washington. As he investigates her disappearance,he finds himself caught up in events that are pulled directly from the plot of his latest bestselling novel.That’s weird enough, but what’s weirder is that he has no memory of writing the book.
It’s an extremely meta take on a game to have a character pulled into the plot of one of his own novels, especially after he writes it with no memory after having writer’s block for two years. The game gets even more meta in later chapters when it introduces the Dark Place,a supernatural dimension where artistic works within can actually influence the real world.Upon discovering a sinister group has taken his wife to that dimension, Alan Wake purposely writes himself into the Dark Place to rescue her. Thus, Alan Wake is a character in a fictional dimension in a fictional world in a fictional book in a fictional game. Though King beat Alan Wake to the meta-fiction concept, withAlan Wakenow becoming a movie, it’s beating King in bringing that concept to the screen.
Thus, Alan Wake is a character in a fictional dimension in a fictional world in a fictional book in a fictional game.
Stephen King Was Also A Character In His Own Dark Tower Series
His Meta-Fiction Was More Complex And Symbolic Than Alan Wake
Stephen King, like Alan Wake,is a novelist who wrote himself into his own book.The difference is, in Stephen King’s case, it was arguably even more meta as Stephen King is a real person making the decision to do this rather than a fictional character in a fictional game. In King’s case, he became a character in his magnum opus series,The Dark Tower. In it, the character ofStephen King is the creator of theDark Towerbooksin which the characters exist. What he writes impacts what happens to them; the characters embark on a journey to Stephen King’s world to track him down and save him from the forces of the Crimson King who would kill him to stop him from finishing the story.
However,some of the events that unfold inThe Dark Towerwere pulled directly from the real Stephen King’s life,as opposed to the events inAlan Wakecoming from one of Alan’s own novels. For example, in theDark Towerbooks, Stephen King rewrites his own near-fatal 1999 accident when he was hit by a driver named Bryan Smith while going for a walk. In reality, King almost died, but slowly recovered. In theDark Towerbooks, the Crimson King tries to keep King from finishing the books by sending Bryan Smith to hit and kill him; Jake Chambers pushes him out of the way of the speeding truck, sacrificing himself instead.
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The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
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The Wind Through the Keyhole
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The meta-contextual aspects of Stephen King becoming a part of theDark Towerseriesbecome larger and more symbolic than Alan Wake falling into the plot of one of his own novels.The Crimson King trying to stop King from finishing the novel became a fictional commentary on King feeling as though the universe itself was trying to keep him from finishing his decades-long project. At one point in the books, fictionalStephen Kingdoesn’t realize he’s subconsciously always working on the story, even when he’s writing a different book, a clear nod to the way so many of his books and short stories tie into the Dark Tower universe. With the more straightforward narrative of Alan Wake, it will be far easier to adapt it for the big screen than theDark Tower.
Stephen King
Discover the latest news and filmography for Stephen King, known for The Dark Tower series, The Stand, IT, The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, the Bill Hodges trilogy, and more.
