Thanks to his status as one of the most famous authors on the planet, not to mention the pedestal he’s put upon as one of the horror genre’s definitive voices across any medium, people on social media are always willing to hear what Stephen King has to say.
While the iconic literary legend hasn’t been shy to make his thoughts known on the hot-button issues plaguing society at large, today has taken a turn for the strange after he ignited an online debate over the merits of John Travolta’s legendary critical and commercial disaster Battlefield Earth.
Deservedly regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, King ended up asking for the name of a critic who would give literally anything a pass, and it didn’t take but a moment for the comments and replies to be swamped with differing opinions on the infamous sci-fi disaster.
Based on the book by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Travolta was sent a copy as far back as 1982 with the hopes he’d eventually turn it into a blockbuster feature film. That eventually happened almost two decades later, only for the end product to land nine Razzies and crater at the box office by bombing so hard it sent production company Franchise Pictures into bankruptcy, matters which weren’t helped by the outfit being sued by various investors for fraudulently inflating the budget figures.
Incredibly, it turns out some people actually ironically enjoy Battlefield Earth, but we get the distinct impression that had absolutely nothing to do with the point King was trying to make in the first place.