It might be one of the least seen Stephen King movies of all time, but Children of the Corn: Runaway quietly marked the end of his weirdest trend. Stephen King movies ran the gamut in quality from classics like The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption, all the way down to King’s only directorial offering, Maximum Overdrive.

One thing fans of King may have noticed is that there aren’t many movie sequels to his work. There have been notable ones, like Shining sequel Doctor Sleep or The Rage: Carrie 2, but they’re more of an exception. After all, nobody is really asking for More Misery or Stand by Me… Again.

King once revealed in a 1992 Fangoria interview that early in his career, he was often pressured into including sequel rights when optioning his novels to producers. King didn’t particularly want to do this and has little love for follow-ups that aren’t directly based on his writing, which only use his name as a selling point.

Children Of The Corn: Runaway Finally Ended The Ripoff Stephen King Sequel Era

A few examples of these cash grab sequels include the Sometimes They Come Back… sequels and the Children of the Corn franchise. Of this saga, King once told ᴅᴇᴀᴅline that “I could do without all of the Children of the Corn sequels.”

In that sense, 2018’s Children of the Corn: Runaway is notable as being the last of these King-free follow-ups. Like some of the later Hellraiser sequels, Runaway was a cheapie sequel produced for the sole purpose of Dimension Films holding onto the franchise rights before they expired.

The story follows a woman who ran away from the тιтular cult of killer children, but has to confront her past years later when her own child is threatened. Children of the Corn: Runaway is neither the best nor the worst of a series that was, at its best, just B-movie shlock.

There are some real stinkers in the sagas, but while Runaway isn’t particularly good, it’s at least trying something different. It’s more of a psychological thriller than the other entries, and largely eschews gore for character drama. It’s one of the better latter-day Children of the Corn outings, but again, that’s faint praise.

Why Stephen King Stopped Signing Off On Sequels

In the aforementioned Fangoria interview, King was angry about the existence of Pet Sematary Two. To the author, this sequel merely remade the original Pet Sematary and he didn’t like that it was being using his name. Says King,

I read the script – or as much of it as I could stand – and I read enough to realize that it was exactly like the first Pet Sematary with different characters. I don’t approve of [Pet Sematary 2] and I didn’t want it made. I hope the people who read FANGORIA, the people who read my books and anyone who likes my stuff will stay away from this picture. And this is one that I will not see myself.

This interview reveals his regrets about giving away sequel rights to so many of his books, and he vowed to stop the practice following Pet Sematary Two. Still, it took a long time for these cash grabs to dry up, with Runaway coming 26 years after his Pet Sematary Two complaints.

In the meantime, there were unwanted Mangler, Carrie and Lawnmower Man sequels, nearly all of which were cheap straight-to-video offerings or TV movies. Ironically, Pet Sematary Two is one of the better horror movies on that list, which is at least true to the themes of King’s book while having some gruesome scenes.

How The Children Of The Corn Series Ran For So Long

Despite the franchise going STV from the second entry onwards, the Children of the Corn series totals 11 movies. That includes a TV movie remake of King’s short story and a 2023 reboot from The Beekeeper screenwriter Kurt Wimmer.

At the height of the franchise’s popularity in the 1990s, entries were being pumped out every one or two years. These sequels also gave early roles to future stars like Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes and Naomi Watts.

It’s by far the long-running property based on a King book, and so many were made for the simple reason that they were cheap to produce and profitable on video and DVD. Later entries, such as Genesis and Runaway, were made to retain the rights while generating a quick, low-investment profit.

The rights were probably being kept with an eye towards a potential theatrical revival, which never came. Just like the Amityville series, it would be tricky to see how to relaunch the property after so many bad sequels milked the concept dry. Still, given King’s evergreen popularity, another remake shouldn’t be ruled out.

Stephen King Has A Simple Rule For Sequels Now

King is no stranger to bad movies being produced from his work. He’s directly responsible for Maximum Overdrive, but there have been dozens of others, from Graveyard Shift to Dreamcatcher and beyond. One of King’s complaints about the ripoff sequels era was that most of them weren’t actually based on his writing.

The Children of the Corn or Mangler franchises took the basic concept of his original stories and spun them off in very new directions. They were happy to plaster “From the mind of Stephen King!” on the VHS boxes, but he often had zero involvement in their creation.

Still, people who watched these films based on his name might not understand that distinction. The odds of these rogue sequels happening after Children of the Corn: Runaway are now close to nil, as King has reacquired the rights to most of his novels, including Christine and Firestarter.

For producers looking to make sequels to a King movie, it will need to be based on something he’s written. IT: Chapter 2 was fine because it was adapting the second half of his mammoth novel, while prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines was based on a key chapter from the book.

So, Children of the Corn: Runaway quietly marked the close of a weird chapter in King adaptations. This is the most significant thing about it, but again, the tiny budget sequel at least put forth a valiant effort to make something interesting.

Source: Fangoria, ᴅᴇᴀᴅline

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  Stephen King

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  September 21, 1947
  

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  Portland, Maine, USA

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  6 feet 4 inches

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  The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, It, The Stand, Misery, The Dark Tower, Mr. Mercedes, Carrie

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  Author, Screenwriter, Producer, Director, Actor

  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.

  
  

  
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