TCA: More Details on the CBS Adaptation of Stephen King’s Under the Dome

Steve Barton   |  

Jan 13, 2013

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Attendees of CBS’s executive session with Nina Tassler held during the winter Television Critics Association event saw a promo video for “Under the Dome” and heard from author Stephen King and screenwriter Brian K. Vaughan via a second video.

Here are some highlights; be sure to hit the link to Crave Online below for the full rundown:

Tassler said the 13-episode show, which will premiere June 24th, begins shooting in February in Wilmington, North Carolina. Look for the first promos during the Super Bowl.

The King/Vaughan presentation included a few clips and animatics illustrating how graphic the show might be. People and cows sliced in half by the dome landing, a plane crashing into the dome in mid-air, townspeople ransacking supermarkets and washing their bloody hammers from God knows what kinds of murder.

“At the time that it comes down, the wife of the town’s selectman is taking flying lessons and the plane hits this invisible dome,” described King. “The pilot just sees the nose of the plane crumble and parts of the plane hit the ground. The gradual realization of what this thing is should be powerful. I thought of it as a force field. TVs won’t work, electronics won’t work.”

Vaughan added another gory detail about the dome’s EMP quality. “If you get too close to it, pacemakers will explode out of your body.”

“Under the Dome” will deal with how long supplies last when the town of Chester’s Mill is cut off. “There’s only so much heat, only so much food. It was a chance to talk about the depletion of resources and how people behave in extraordinary circumstances… The novel only covers a short period of time. The idea of the TV series is not to extend it for a week, but months… It’s going to bring out the best in some people and the worst in other people.”

Synopsis:
UNDER THE DOME is the story of a small town that is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. The town’s inhabitants must deal with surviving the post-apocalyptic conditions while searching for answers to what this barrier is, where it came from, and if and when it will go away.

“UNDER THE DOME” is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Amblin Television. Neal Baer, Stephen King, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Stacey Snider, and Brian K. Vaughan, who wrote the television adaptation, will serve as executive producers. Acclaimed director Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) will direct the first episode.

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