#Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive Reboot Idea Pitched by Son Joe Hill

Joe Hill has an excellent idea to remake Maximum Overdrive. Hill admitted that he would be into directing and writing a remake of the 1986 cult classic. The original comedy horror was written and directed by Hill’s father, Stephen King, and it was far from a hit at the box office. The screenplay was inspired by and loosely based on King’s short story Trucks, which was included in his first collection of short stories, titled Night Shift.

In a new interview with Mick Garris over at

Bloody Disgusting), Joe Hill was asked if he would like to get into the world of directing. Without any hesitation, Hill responds, “I would only want to jump into directing if I had a chance to do the reboot of {Maximum Overdrive.” He added, “If someone offered me the chance to write and direct a relaunch of Maximum Overdrive, I’d jump at that in a second.” When pushed further, Hill gave a loose idea of what his take on the story would be. Joe Hill explains.

“The time is right, okay. So basically, they’re all the self-driving vehicles. So it’s no longer a comet that sets them off, it’s a virus in the electronics that sets them off. And so you’ve got these giant Tesla semitrucks, ya know, wiping everyone out. I think it could be great.”

Joe Hill’s take on Maximum Overdrive sounds like it work perfectly in today’s world. But, is anyone going to give him the chance to do so? It is entirely possible since Stephen King has admitted numerous times that he was not in the best headspace when they were making the original movie, due to his drug abuse. Not even the soundtrack from AC/DC could save the movie at the box office.

The AC/DC soundtrack for Maximum Overdrive is still looked at fondly, and the movie itself is considered to be so bad that it’s actually good. Stephen King has since called it a “moron movie.” Even with harsh criticism from critics and viewers, Joe Hill says that Maximum Overdrive is the only project that he would like to write and direct all on his own. By taking the sci-fi aspect of the original movie out and interjecting it with the dangers of technology, Hill could have a hit on his hands.

The recent Child’s Play remake took the sci-fi elements out of the franchise and also put a technological spin into the world of Chucky. The movie was not a hit at the box office, but it was a hit with younger horror fans, who are hoping that a sequel ends up happening. The big difference in this comparison is that Child’s Play is horror masterpiece, while Maximum Overdrive falls short of that kind of praise. We’ll just have to wait and see if Joe Hill gets his wish to remake his father’s Maximum Overdrive, You can check out a portion of the interview with Hill above, thanks to the Bloody Disgusting YouTube channel.
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Topics: Maximum Overdrive