The objective of this master’s thesis is to analyse the variations of Stephen King’s The Mist to uncover a method for evaluating an adaptation based on its reception and applying the conclusions of such an evaluation to reflect on other adaptations’ success. The study met this objective through an analysis of the constitutional changes to the narrative’s storytelling elements in the adaptation process. These changes were in turn compared to the other variations of The Mist to locate the abeyant elements, that affected the reception of the individual works. Consequently, the analysis found that The Mist novella and the film adaptation of The Mist were successful, while the television series was unsuccessful.
In attempting to analyse The Mist, it was relevant to draw on adaptation studies. A discourse on fidelity has dominated the field of adaptation studies for a long time, in which the original work is superior to the adaptations. This study attempts to challenge the notion of fidelity, which is an approach that other influential theorists within the field of adaptation studies share.
Linda Hutcheon has provided the theoretical framework of the analysis in her striking book, “A Theory of Adaptation”. The analysis found that changes to a narrative’s elements can have an impact on an adaptations’ reception, both in positive and negative ways. Furthermore, these changes were found to be generalisable to other adaptations, to locate which potential changes to storytelling elements have affected the reception of those adaptations. In the discussion, the findings of the analysis were used to discuss the reception of other examples of adaptations based on their inherent changes to the narrative, and how those changes coincided with the changes to the different variations of The Mist.