Why Stephen King filed a lawsuit against 'The Lawnmower Man' movie

Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, and fantasy novels. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, many of which have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, and comic books. He also has published 61 novels and six non-fiction books. 

Also read: Stephen King: Best On-screen Adaptations Of The Legendary Writer's Novels

Stephen has been writing successful books since 1974. In 1992, New Line Cinema set out to make an adaptation of Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man. But their final rendition earned them a lawsuit from Stephen King. Over the last few decades, King has seen his stories become popular all across the world, be it in big or small screens. King’s novels have been adapted to films or TV. 

Also read: Doctor Sleep And Other Popular Stephen King Books Adapted Into Films

King has also written several of the scripts for his movie adaptations himself, such as with Silver Bullet, Pet Sematary (1989), The Shining (1997), and The Stand. Stephen King has a strong standing and a long history in Hollywood. He was, however, particularly unhappy with one of the adaptations. That was for New Line Cinema’s 1992 science fiction horror film, The Lawnmower Man. 

Why Stephen King filed a lawsuit 

King argues that films and books are two different mediums, and his version of the story is still available to read. That is what Stephen’s idea is. But it was not the case for The Lawnmower Man. Directed by Brett Leonard, and starring Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey, The Lawnmower Man movie was marketed as an adaptation of King's short story of the same name, included in the Night Shift collection. The stories have nothing in common, outside of Jobe working as a greenskeeper, and a few other small references. This did not go well with King.

Seeing the movie promoted as ‘Stephen’s King's The Lawnmower Man’ made him angry, so he filed a lawsuit. Stephen said he wanted absolutely nothing to do with the movie as it wasn’t his story so his name should not be mentioned. A federal judge agreed, ordering King's name to be removed from all marketing. But New Line Cinema defied this ruling, and put King's name on the home video release, causing them to be held in contempt of court.