Spielberg and King Adapt “Under the Dome” for Showtime

It’s been announced that one of the best reads of 2009, Stephen King’s “Under the Dome,” will officially be adapted into a series on Showtime. Best of all, Steven Spielberg’s name is attached. Here’s the official trailer for the book:

When this was first announced many moons ago I thought I heard that it was going to be a miniseries, but it sounds like they’re going all out and dropping the “mini.” That should be cool, as long as they take the Lost/Breaking Bad approach of predetermining an end date for the series. The cast of characters trapped in the dome (and a few outside) is large and it’s a story of being cut off from the rest of the world, so I assume that there will be many comparisons made to “Lost” when it’s released. I personally felt that the story was closest to King’s masterpiece, “The Stand” with the town being split into two well-defined sides: good guys and bad guys.

I know many have criticized the book with the oh-so-clever and completely original “Simpsons did it” argument, but there’s no arguing that the concept of a town being cut off from the rest of the world only to tear itself apart from the inside is a damn good concept. Luckily, King makes it a damn good read as well.

The series is still in the very early stages, so there’s no need to subscribe to Showtime quite yet, but keep an eye out. In the meantime, read the book or maybe just watch “The Simpsons Movie” again.