According to the book “Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide,” King didn’t even know about “The Lawnmower Man” movie until he saw a poster for the film — with his name on it — in his local theater. And when he finally saw the completed film, he wasn’t happy. King told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s the biggest rip-off that you could imagine because there’s nothing of me in there. It just makes me furious.” He added: “My name shouldn’t be on it … They’re interested in exploiting me. My work is being strip-mined by the same studio that gave us the Ninja Turtles.”
To be fair, King’s name has been slapped on plenty of crappy movies. But this was taking things too far. The film had absolutely nothing to do with his short story, and yet it was being marketed on his name. New Line Cinema, who distributed the film, wasn’t even being coy about the matter. As New Line CEO Bob Shaye was quoted as saying, “[King’s] name was the most important thing we were buying” when they bought the rights to the story.
King wasn’t having it. He went to court, suing to have his name removed from the film. And he won: a judge ruled in King’s favor. A Second Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled in King’s favor, although New Line could keep a “based on” credit after paying the author $2.5 million in damages. You’d think that would be the end of it, but later, New Line was found to be in contempt of court by keeping King’s name on the home video release of the film. Once again, King sued, and the studio would have to pay him $10,000 a day if they didn’t remove the author’s name.
In the end, King won in court, but the damage was already done. “The Lawnmower Man” movie may have absolutely nothing to do with King’s work, but it will forever be associated with the famed author. “People can say this is stupid and that I’m getting rich, but I don’t feel that way,” King told the Los Angeles Times. “My name is my fortune and it’s the only name I’ve got. I’ve got a minuscule percentage, but I’ll never see a cent. Take my word on it.”