The Lawnmower Man (film)
The Lawnmower Man is a 1992 science fiction horror film directed by Brett Leonard, written by Leonard and Gimel Everett, and starring Jeff Fahey as Jobe Smith, an intellectually disabled gardener, and Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Angelo, a scientist who decides to experiment on him in an effort to give him greater intelligence by stimulating his brain using nootropic drugs and virtual reality computer simulations.The film was originally marketed as the adaptation of a 1975 short story by Stephen King, which featured a Pan-worshipping satyr using his mystical powers to operate a landscaping business and mow lawns.Allied Vision began developing the film after a planned adaptation of King's book Night Shift (1978), an anthology the story was published in.One of his test subjects, a chimpanzee named Rosco, gains enhanced intelligence, warfare training, and increased aggression; he eventually escapes but is killed by the laboratory's security forces.In response, Angelo decides to recruit Jobe Smith, an intellectually disabled gardener, as a new test subject, promising him increased intelligence.The plot of Stephen King's 1975 short story "The Lawnmower Man" concerns Harold Parkette, who hires "Pastoral Greenery and Outdoor Services Inc." to cut his lawn.Edward and Valerie Abraham wrote a screenplay for an anthology film adapting “The Lawnmower Man,” “The Mangler,” and “Trucks” revolving around the theme of humanity's relationship with technology.Dino De Laurentiis purchased the rights to the screenplay in 1984 with the intention of making a series of King anthology films beginning with Cat's Eye (1985).[7] Meanwhile, director Brett Leonard and producer Gimel Everett wrote an original screenplay about virtual reality technology titled Cyber God.The new screenplay carried minor elements of King's original story, including the scene where Jobe kills Peter's father with the lawnmower "Big Red", and the aftermath in which the police state that they found some of his remains in the birdbath.The film has several elements in common with the 1959 Daniel Keyes novel Flowers for Algernon, which also deals with a mentally disabled man whose intelligence is technologically boosted to genius levels.The film was tested in Jacksonville, Florida, Fresno, California, and Providence, Rhode Island on February 14, 1992[5] and released in the United States on March 6, in 1,276 theatres.The site's consensus states: "The Lawnmower Man suffers from a predictable, melodramatic script, and its once-groundbreaking visual effects look dated today".[18][19][2] It went on to gross $32.1 million in the United States and Canada,[2] making it the highest-grossing independent film for the calendar year[20] and the second biggest released in 1992 after Miramax's The Crying Game.[5] New Line Home Video simultaneously released the 108-minute theatrical version of the film and an unrated 142-minute director's cut on VHS and LaserDisc on August 26, 1992.As before, the court upheld the two prior judgments, but it took the extra step of imposing a penalty of $10,000 directly payable to King for every day New Line remained in contempt by defying the order.