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Iconic Genre Author Richard Matheson Dies
Prolific and hugely influential genre writer Richard Matheson died Sunday at the age of 87. His family announced the sad news to his fans on Facebook.
The iconic author penned such classic sci-fi and horror tales I Am Legend, What Dreams May Come, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Somewhere in Time, and A Stir of Echoes, all of which were adapted for the silver screen with varying degrees of success.Matheson's short stories also served as the basis for the recent films Real Steel and The Box, both of which had been previously adapted for the small screen. Matheson also authored Duel, which was Steven Spielberg's first feature-length film.
Matheson was already an established author of sci-fi, horror and fantasy short stories and novels when he wrote 14 episodes for Rod Serling's groundbreaking TV series The Twilight Zone, including the now-classic William Shatner episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and an adaptation of his 1955 short story "Steel," which is also the basis for the Hugh Jackman film Real Steel.
I Am Legend is probably the Matheson story that Hollywood's had a crack at the most, with Vincent Price starring in the 1964 adaptation The Last Man on Earth and the Charlton Heston classic The Omega Man preceding Will Smith's 2007 blockbuster.
I was honored to interview Matheson at his home in 2011 prior to the release of Real Steel. Here's what he had to say about his feelings on how Hollywood's fared in adapting his work:
"They could brutalize almost any one of them. Like What Dreams May Come. It broke my heart when the man who used to run Universal told me one day, 'I should have shot your book,' and I thought, 'Nice to hear that now.' ... I think they have the capacity to screw up anything. In so many cases, they don't intend to screw it up. They want to do a good job, but there's something missing in them. They lack the sensitivity to really get the thing right."
"As is the case of I Am Legend, they never followed my stories precisely, but they do a decent job of adaptation. I don't mind that. In this case [Real Steel], they did such a wonderful job. {Director] Shawn Levy did such an amazing job. I was very pleased."
Prolific and hugely influential genre writer Richard Matheson died Sunday at the age of 87. His family announced the sad news to his fans on Facebook.
The iconic author penned such classic sci-fi and horror tales I Am Legend, What Dreams May Come, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Somewhere in Time, and A Stir of Echoes, all of which were adapted for the silver screen with varying degrees of success.Matheson's short stories also served as the basis for the recent films Real Steel and The Box, both of which had been previously adapted for the small screen. Matheson also authored Duel, which was Steven Spielberg's first feature-length film.
Matheson was already an established author of sci-fi, horror and fantasy short stories and novels when he wrote 14 episodes for Rod Serling's groundbreaking TV series The Twilight Zone, including the now-classic William Shatner episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and an adaptation of his 1955 short story "Steel," which is also the basis for the Hugh Jackman film Real Steel.
I Am Legend is probably the Matheson story that Hollywood's had a crack at the most, with Vincent Price starring in the 1964 adaptation The Last Man on Earth and the Charlton Heston classic The Omega Man preceding Will Smith's 2007 blockbuster.
I was honored to interview Matheson at his home in 2011 prior to the release of Real Steel. Here's what he had to say about his feelings on how Hollywood's fared in adapting his work:
"They could brutalize almost any one of them. Like What Dreams May Come. It broke my heart when the man who used to run Universal told me one day, 'I should have shot your book,' and I thought, 'Nice to hear that now.' ... I think they have the capacity to screw up anything. In so many cases, they don't intend to screw it up. They want to do a good job, but there's something missing in them. They lack the sensitivity to really get the thing right."
"As is the case of I Am Legend, they never followed my stories precisely, but they do a decent job of adaptation. I don't mind that. In this case [Real Steel], they did such a wonderful job. {Director] Shawn Levy did such an amazing job. I was very pleased."