Spielberg, King collaborate on 'Under The Dome' miniseries

Stephen King and Steven Spielberg are both old horses when it comes to attaching their names to miniseries events. Stephen King's Salem's Lot (1979), Rose Red (2002), The Stand (1994) and Kingdom Hospital (2004) have all seen some success in miniseries form. Spielberg was executive-producer of an Alien Abduction story that spanned generations in Taken (2002).

This time around it's a collaborative effort as Spielberg adapts King's latest Opus Under The Dome to the small screen. The book is over 1000 pages long and there is just too much story to fit into a two-hour film. King has been known to write vast universes and intricate characters, so a miniseries is the perfect medium for this kind of undertaking.

While 'Under The Dome' has drawn some unfair comparisons to The Simpsons Movie, in which Springfield was quarantined by the EPA and encased in a giant dome. But that is where the similarities end. For those who actually care to take a closer look, King's latest tale draws from our current paranoia with Global climate changes and the rising fears of spreading diseases like the Swine Flu. 

An inexplicable forcefield comes down on Chester's Mill, Maine and its inhabitants are thrown in the midst of a media frenzy. The whys, whos and hows are at the crux of the story, but it's more about the characters and the battle between good and evil that ensues when the air starts to run out and skeletons in every closet are lay bare.

This is a Stephen King epic that should be handled with care, and who better to see to that then the other Auteur of storytelling, Stephen Spielberg who along with King will executive-produce. 

[Variety]