NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: FROM THE STORIES OF STEPHEN KING (2006)

Turner Network Television (TNT) is putting the summer on ice with its chilling all-star television event NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: FROM THE STORIES OF STEPHEN KING.

This four-week collection of eight mind-bending tales from the master of horror, set to premiere in July, features such top performers as William H. Macy, Ron Livingston, Henry Thomas, Claire Forlani, Jeremy Sisto, Samantha Mathis, Greta Scacchi, Kim Delaney, William Hurt, Tom Berenger and many other A-List stars. In addition, the first installment of the series will be presented uninterrupted and commercial-free.

NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES comes to TNT from Bill Haber’s Ostar Enterprises, with Haber (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow) serving as executive producer. The series is produced by Mike Robe, Jeffrey Hayes and John J. McMahon.

The following is the line-up of eight one-hour stories included in TNT’s NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES:

Umney’s Last Case
Directed by Rob Bowman (Reign of Fire, Elektra); teleplay by April Smith (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three)
After the death of his son, writer Sam Landry (William H. Macy) is so desperate to lead another life, he writes himself into his own book, forcing his long-time character (also played by Macy) to change places with him and live in the modern day. But things get deadly when Landry realizes he is trapped and cannot write himself out of his new reality.

The End of the Whole Mess
Directed by Mikael Salomon (TNT’s Salem’s Lot); teleplay by Lawrence D. Cohen (Carrie, Stephen King’s It)
The world had changed. Violence, war and hatred and replaced with kindness, peace and love. But at what price? Renowned filmmaker Howie Fornoy (Ron Livingston), with just one hour to live, recounts the details of his brother’s (Henry Thomas) worldwide experiment gone terribly wrong.

Crouch End
Directed by Mark Haber (Border Patrol, Alien Cargo, Daises in December); teleplay by Kim LeMasters (Threshold)
A newly wed American couple (Eion Bailey and Claire Forlani) honeymooning in London goes to Crouch End to have dinner with a friend. They soon learn the town is not what it appears to be, and the more they get lost, the more they become trapped in another dimension.

The Fifth Quarter
Directed by Rob Bowman (Reign of Fire, Elektra); teleplay by Alan Sharp (Rob Roy, Reversible Errors)
Willie (Jeremy Sisto), a just-released convict, learns from his dying friend of a map in four parts that reveals the location of $1 million from a robbery. Seeking revenge for the death of his friend and the money, as well, Willie hunts down the others who hold the remaining three parts to the map, risking his family and his freedom. Samantha Mathis co-stars.

Autopsy Room Four
Directed by Mikael Salomon (TNT’s Salem’s Lot); teleplay by April Smith (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three)
Businessman Howard Cottrell (Richard Thomas) is on vacation playing one of his many games of golf. Chasing the ball into the undergrowth, he is bitten by a snake and completely paralyzed, showing no signs of life. At the hospital, unable to communicate, he is the key witness to his own autopsy. Greta Scacchi co-stars.

You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
Written and directed by Mike Robe (News at Eleven, Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North).
A wrong turn on a lonely road turns frightening for Clark and Mary Willingham (Steven Weber and Kim Delaney) as they stumble upon a town not on any map – Rock and Roll Heaven, Oregon. There is a free concert every night, but the price of admission is high – once the audience enters, it can never leave.

Battleground
Directed by Brian Henson (Farscape, Muppet Treasure Island); teleplay by Richard Christian Matheson (Mobius, It Waits)
John Renshaw (William Hurt), a professional hit man, successfully murders the CEO of a prestigious toy company only to face the biggest fight of his life when a package from the toy company is delivered to his house with surprising, deadly contents.

The Road Virus Heads North
Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (TNT’s Into The West, Invasion, Taken); teleplay by Peter Filardi (Salem’s Lot, Flatliners)
Richard Kinnell (Tom Berenger) is a famous writer who, at a doctor’s visit, learns he may soon have to deal with his own mortality. On the drive back to his home, he buys a mysterious painting. Each time he looks at it, it changes to become more menacing and sinister. He pieces together that the painting is trying to kill him…but not if he can destroy it first. Marsha Mason co-stars.

Five of the adaptations for NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES come from King’s 1993 anthology of the same name. The Road Virus Heads North and Autopsy Room Four come from King’s 2002 anthology Everything’s Eventual, while Battleground comes from 1978’s Nightshift.