Misery ( film ) - wikipedia Misery ( film ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2016 ) Misery Theatrical release poster Directed by Rob Reiner Produced by Steve Nicolaides Rob Reiner Andrew Scheinman Jeffrey Stott Screenplay by William Goldman Based on Misery by Stephen King Starring James Caan Kathy Bates Frances Sternhagen Richard Farnsworth Lauren Bacall Music by Marc Shaiman Cinematography Barry Sonnenfeld Edited by Robert Leighton Production companies Castle Rock Entertainment Nelson Entertainment Distributed by Columbia Pictures Release date November 30, 1990 ( 1990 - 11 - 30 ) Running time 107 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $20 million Box office $61.3 million Misery is a 1990 American thriller film directed by Rob Reiner based on Stephen King 's 1987 novel of the same name, starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Richard Farnsworth, and Frances Sternhagen about a psychotic fan who holds an author captive and forces him to write her stories. It was released on November 30, 1990 in the United States. The film received critical acclaim and Bates 's performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes won the 1990 Academy Award for Best Actress. As of 2018, Misery is the only Stephen King adaptation to be an Oscar - winning film. The `` hobbling '' scene in the film was ranked # 12 on Bravo 's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Music 6 Awards and nominations 6.1 1990 film 6.2 2015 Broadway production 7 References 8 External links Plot Famed novelist Paul Sheldon is the author of a successful series of Regency romance novels featuring a character named Misery Chastain. Wanting to focus on more serious stories, he writes a manuscript for a new novel that he hopes will launch his post-Misery career. While traveling from Silver Creek, Colorado to his home in New York City, Paul is caught in a blizzard and his car goes off the road, rendering him unconscious. A nurse named Annie Wilkes finds Paul and brings him to her remote home. Paul regains consciousness and finds himself bedridden with broken legs and a dislocated shoulder. Annie claims to be his `` number one fan '' and talks a lot about him and his novels. Out of gratitude, Paul lets Annie read his new manuscript. While feeding him, she is angered by the profanity in his new work and spills soup on him, but apologizes. Soon after, Annie reads the latest Misery novel, discovers that Misery dies at the end of the book, and flies into a rage. She reveals to Paul that nobody knows where he is, and locks him in his room. The next morning, Annie forces Paul to burn his new manuscript. When he is well enough to get out of bed, she insists he write a new novel titled Misery 's Return, in which he brings the character back to life. Paul complies, believing Annie might kill him. One day, when Annie is away, Paul begins stockpiling his painkillers. He tries poisoning Annie during dinner, but fails. Paul later finds a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about Annie 's past. He discovers that she was tried for the deaths of several infants, but the trial collapsed due to lack of evidence. Annie had quoted lines from his Misery novels during her trial. Annie later drugs Paul and straps him to the bed. When he wakes, she tells him that she knows he has been out of his room and breaks his ankles with a sledgehammer to prevent him from escaping again. The local sheriff, Buster, is investigating Paul 's disappearance. When a shopkeeper informs the sheriff he has sold Annie considerable quantities of typing paper, Buster pays Annie a visit. When he finds Paul drugged in the basement, Annie shoots Buster with a shotgun, killing him ; she tells Paul that they must die together. He agrees, on the condition that he must finish the novel in order to `` give Misery back to the world ''. He conceals a can of lighter fluid in his pocket. When the manuscript is done, Paul asks for a single cigarette and a glass of champagne, to which Annie complies. Using the match Annie gives him, Paul sets the manuscript on fire, and as Annie rushes to save it, he hits her over the head with the typewriter. They fight and Annie is killed when Paul smashes her in the face with the base of a heavy statue. Eighteen months later, Paul, now walking with a cane, meets his agent, Marcia, in a restaurant in New York City. The two discuss his first non-Misery novel, and Marcia tells him about the positive early buzz. Paul replies that he does not care, and that he wrote the novel for himself. Marcia asks if he would consider a non-fiction book about his captivity, but Paul declines. Seeing a waitress, he imagines her as Annie. The waitress says she is his `` number one fan '', to which Paul responds, `` That 's very sweet of you ''. Cast James Caan as Paul Sheldon Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes Richard Farnsworth as Buster Frances Sternhagen as Virginia Lauren Bacall as Marcia Sindell Graham Jarvis as Libby Production Producer Andrew Scheinman read Stephen King 's novel Misery on an airplane, and later recommended it to his director partner at Castle Rock Entertainment, Rob Reiner. Reiner eventually invited writer William Goldman to write the film 's screenplay. Given that Reiner was a director with a career of comedies, once he read the novel he identified with the theme of `` a guy who needed a new challenge, who needs to push himself and grow ''. King had refused to sell the novel 's adaptation rights because of how other works of his were mishandled in film translations, but eventually let Reiner do Misery after his 1986 film Stand by Me, an adaptation of King 's novella The Body. Reiner worked closely with Goldman on the screenplay, with the director explaining that `` We got rid of the most gory and horrific parts. I wanted to concentrate on the idea of this chess match between the artist and his fan. '' In the original novel, Annie Wilkes severs one of Paul Sheldon 's feet with an axe. Goldman loved the scene and argued for it to be included, but Reiner insisted that it be changed so that she only breaks his ankles. Goldman subsequently wrote that this was the correct decision as amputation would have been too severe. The part of Paul Sheldon was originally offered to William Hurt ( twice ), then Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, and Robert Redford, but they all turned it down. Warren Beatty was interested in the role, wanting to turn him into a less passive character, but eventually had to drop out as post-production of Dick Tracy extended. Eventually someone suggested James Caan, who agreed to play the part. Caan commented that he was attracted by how Sheldon was a role unlike any other of his, and that `` being a totally reactionary character is really much tougher. '' According to Reiner, it was Goldman who suggested that Kathy Bates, then unknown, should portray Annie Wilkes. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an 89 % rating ; the consensus reads, `` Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, this taut and frightening film is one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date. '' Roger Ebert liked the film, stating, `` It is a good story, a natural, and it grabs us. '' The genre magazine Bloody Disgusting ranked Misery fourth place in its list of `` 10 Claustrophobic Horror Films ''. King himself has stated that Misery is one of his top ten favorite film adaptations, in his collection Stephen King Goes to the Movies. In his memoir called On Writing : A Memoir of the Craft, King references the movie adaptation of the book, saying : In the early 1980s, my wife and I went to London on a combined business / pleasure trip. I fell asleep on the plane and had a dream about a popular writer ( it may or may not have been me, but it sure to God was n't James Caan )... Misery grossed $10,076,834 on its opening weekend, finishing at second at the box office behind Home Alone. It eventually finished with $61 million domestically. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of `` A - '' on an A+ to F scale. Annie Wilkes was ranked # 17 on AFI 's 100 Greatest Heroes and Villains list. Music Misery Film score by Marc Shaiman Released July 1, 1999 ( 1999 - 07 - 01 ) Genre Soundtrack Label Dead Line The film 's score was composed by Marc Shaiman. Awards and nominations 1990 film Year Award ceremony Category Nominee Result New York Critics Circle Award Best Actress Kathy Bates 3rd place 1991 Academy Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Won Golden Globe Award Best Actress in a Motion Picture -- Drama Won Chicago Film Critics Association Award Best Actress Won Most Promising Actress Nominated Dallas - Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award Best Actress Won USC Scripter Award William Goldman ( screenwriter ) & Stephen King ( author ) Nominated Saturn Award Best Horror Film Nominated Best Actor James Caan Nominated Best Actress Kathy Bates Nominated Best Supporting Actress Frances Sternhagen Nominated Best Writing William Goldman Nominated 2015 Broadway production Year Award ceremony Category Nominee Result 2016 Tony Award Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play Laurie Metcalf Nominated Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Set Design David Korins Nominated References Jump up ^ `` MISERY ( 18 ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. January 7, 1991. Retrieved August 15, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Box Office Information for Misery. The Wrap. Retrieved April 4, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Awards for Kathy Bates ''. IMDb. Retrieved 2010 - 10 - 31. Jump up ^ `` The Best and Worst of Stephen King 's Movies -- MSN Movies News ''. Movies.msn.com. 2012 - 10 - 20. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Bravo 's 100 Scariest Movie Moments ''. listology.com. Retrieved 9 August 2015. Jump up ^ Goldman, William. Which Lie Did I Tell ?, p. 37 Jump up ^ Goldman p 40 Jump up ^ Goldman p 42 - 44 Jump up ^ Goldstein, Patrick ( 1990 - 04 - 29 ). `` Rob Reiner Takes On ' Misery ' : The director follows his hit comedy ' When Harry Met Sally... ' with a chiller, his second film taken from a Stephen King novel -- Page 2 -- Los Angeles Times ''. Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 11. Jump up ^ Finke, Nikki ( 1990 - 11 - 29 ). `` James Caan Enjoying His ' Misery ' : Hollywood 's Reputed Bad Boy Resurfaces in the Rob Reiner - Directed Psychological Thriller -- Page 2 -- Los Angeles Times ''. Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 11. Jump up ^ Rob Reiner - Archive Interview Part 6 of 8 on YouTube Jump up ^ Misery at Rotten Tomatoes Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger ( 1990 - 11 - 30 ). `` Misery : : rogerebert.com : : Reviews ''. rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 2009 - 09 - 12. Jump up ^ `` A Look at the Top 10 Claustrophobic Horror Movies ! ''. bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 9 August 2015. Jump up ^ Stephen King, Stephen King Goes To The Movies, page 579 ( Hodder & Stoughton, 2009 ). ISBN 978 - 0 - 340 - 98030 - 9 Jump up ^ Stephen King, On Writing, page 165 ( Simon & Schuster, 2000 ). ISBN 978 - 1 - 4391 - 5681 - 0 Jump up ^ `` Weekend Box Office Results for November 30 -- December 2, 1990 ''. Box Office Mojo. 1990 - 12 - 02. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 11. Jump up ^ `` CinemaScore ''. cinemascore.com. Jump up ^ http://www.afi.com/100years/handv.aspx External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Misery ( film ) United States portal Horror fiction portal Film portal 1990s portal Misery on IMDb Misery at Box Office Mojo Misery at Rotten Tomatoes Misery at Metacritic Stephen King Bibliography Short fiction Unpublished and uncollected Awards and nominations Novels Carrie ( 1974 ) ' Salem 's Lot ( 1975 ) The Shining ( 1977 ) The Stand ( 1978 ) The Dead Zone ( 1979 ) Firestarter ( 1980 ) Cujo ( 1981 ) Christine ( 1983 ) Pet Sematary ( 1983 ) Cycle of the Werewolf ( 1983 ) The Talisman ( 1984 ) It ( 1986 ) The Eyes of the Dragon ( 1987 ) Misery ( 1987 ) The Tommyknockers ( 1987 ) The Dark Half ( 1989 ) Needful Things ( 1991 ) Gerald 's Game ( 1992 ) Dolores Claiborne ( 1992 ) Insomnia ( 1994 ) Rose Madder ( 1995 ) The Green Mile ( 1996 ) Desperation ( 1996 ) Bag of Bones ( 1998 ) The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon ( 1999 ) The Plant ( 2000 ; unfinished ) Dreamcatcher ( 2001 ) Black House ( 2001 ) From a Buick 8 ( 2002 ) The Colorado Kid ( 2005 ) Cell ( 2006 ) Lisey 's Story ( 2006 ) Duma Key ( 2008 ) Under the Dome ( 2009 ) 11 / 22 / 63 ( 2011 ) Joyland ( 2013 ) Doctor Sleep ( 2013 ) Mr. Mercedes ( 2014 ) Revival ( 2014 ) Finders Keepers ( 2015 ) End of Watch ( 2016 ) Gwendy 's Button Box ( 2017 ) Sleeping Beauties ( 2017 ) The Outsider ( 2018 ) Elevation ( 2018 ) The Dark Tower series The Gunslinger ( 1982 ) The Drawing of the Three ( 1987 ) The Waste Lands ( 1991 ) Wizard and Glass ( 1997 ) Wolves of the Calla ( 2003 ) Song of Susannah ( 2004 ) The Dark Tower ( 2004 ) The Wind Through the Keyhole ( 2012 ) Richard Bachman novels Rage ( 1977 ) The Long Walk ( 1979 ) Roadwork ( 1981 ) The Running Man ( 1982 ) Thinner ( 1984 ) The Bachman Books ( 1985 ) The Regulators ( 1996 ) Blaze ( 2007 ) Short fiction collections Night Shift ( 1978 ) Different Seasons ( 1982 ) Skeleton Crew ( 1985 ) Four past Midnight ( 1990 ) Nightmares & Dreamscapes ( 1993 ) Hearts in Atlantis ( 1999 ) Everything 's Eventual ( 2002 ) Just After Sunset ( 2008 ) Full Dark, No Stars ( 2010 ) The Bazaar of Bad Dreams ( 2015 ) Non-fiction Danse Macabre ( 1981 ) Nightmares in the Sky ( 1988 ) On Writing ( 2000 ) Secret Windows ( 2000 ) Faithful ( 2004 ) `` Guns '' ( 2013 ) Screenplays Creepshow ( 1982 ) Cat 's Eye ( 1985 ) Silver Bullet ( 1985 ) Maximum Overdrive ( 1986 ; also director ) Pet Sematary ( 1989 ) Sleepwalkers ( 1992 ) A Good Marriage ( 2014 ) Cell ( 2016 ) Teleplays `` Sorry, Right Number '' ( 1987 ) Golden Years ( 1991 ) The Stand ( 1994 ) The Shining ( 1997 ) `` Chinga '' ( 1998 ) Storm of the Century ( 1999 ) Rose Red ( 2002 ) Kingdom Hospital ( 2004 ) Desperation ( 2006 ) `` Heads Will Roll '' ( 2014 ) Comics Heroes for Hope ( 1985 ) American Vampire ( 2010 ) Musical collaborations Michael Jackson 's Ghosts ( 1997 ) Black Ribbons ( 2010 ) Ghost Brothers of Darkland County ( 2012 ) Anthologies edited The Best American Short Stories 2007 ( 2007 ) Six Scary Stories ( 2016 ) Flight or Fright ( 2018 ) Worlds and concepts Dollar Baby Fictional books Fictional locations in Maine Castle Rock Derry Jerusalem 's Lot Multiverse All - World Related articles List of adaptations Books about Stephen King Rock Bottom Remainders Philtrum Press Six Stories Stephen King Goes to the Movies Charlie the Choo - Choo Hearts in Suspension Tabitha King ( wife ) Joe Hill ( son ) Owen King ( son ) Book Category Adaptations of works by Stephen King Films Cujo ( 1983 ) The Dead Zone ( 1983 ) Christine ( 1983 ) Cat 's Eye ( 1985 ) Silver Bullet ( 1985 ) The Running Man ( 1987 ) Tales from the Darkside : The Movie ( 1990 ) Graveyard Shift ( 1990 ) Misery ( 1990 ) Sleepwalkers ( 1992 ) Needful Things ( 1993 ) The Dark Half ( 1993 ) Dolores Claiborne ( 1995 ) Thinner ( 1996 ) The Night Flier ( 1997 ) The Green Mile ( 1999 ) Hearts in Atlantis ( 2001 ) Dreamcatcher ( 2003 ) Secret Window ( 2004 ) Riding the Bullet ( 2004 ) 1408 ( 2007 ) The Mist ( 2007 ) Dolan 's Cadillac ( 2009 ) A Good Marriage ( 2014 ) Mercy ( 2014 ) Cell ( 2016 ) The Dark Tower ( 2017 ) Gerald 's Game ( 2017 ) 1922 ( 2017 ) In the Tall Grass ( 2019 ) Carrie Carrie ( 1976 ) The Rage : Carrie 2 ( 1999 ) Carrie ( 2002 ) Carrie ( 2013 ) Creepshow Creepshow ( 1982 ) Creepshow 2 ( 1987 ) Creepshow 3 ( 2007 ) Children of the Corn Disciples of the Crow ( 1983 ) Children of the Corn ( 1984 ) The Final Sacrifice ( 1992 ) Urban Harvest ( 1995 ) The Gathering ( 1996 ) Fields of Terror ( 1998 ) Isaac 's Return ( 1999 ) Revelation ( 2001 ) Children of the Corn ( 2009 ) Genesis ( 2011 ) Runaway ( 2018 ) Different Seasons Stand by Me ( 1986 ) The Shawshank Redemption ( 1994 ) Apt Pupil ( 1998 ) Firestarter Firestarter ( 1984 ) Rekindled ( 2002 ) Trucks Maximum Overdrive ( 1986 ) Trucks ( 1997 ) Pet Sematary Pet Sematary ( 1989 ) Pet Sematary Two ( 1992 ) Pet Sematary ( 2019 ) The Mangler The Mangler ( 1995 ) The Mangler 2 ( 2002 ) Reborn ( 2005 ) The Lawnmower Man The Lawnmower Man ( 1992 ) Beyond Cyberspace ( 1996 ) It It ( 2017 ) It : Chapter Two ( 2019 ) The Shining The Shining ( 1980 ) Doctor Sleep ( 2020 ) TV films, episodes, and miniseries `` The Word Processor of the Gods '' ( 1984 ) `` Gramma '' ( 1986 ) `` Sorry, Right Number '' ( 1987 ) It ( 1990 ) Golden Years ( 1991 ) The Tommyknockers ( 1993 ) The Stand ( 1994 ) The Langoliers ( 1995 ) The Shining ( 1997 ) Quicksilver Highway ( 1997 ) `` The Revelations of ' Becka Paulson '' ( 1997 ) Storm of the Century ( 1999 ) Stephen King 's Desperation ( 2006 ) Nightmares & Dreamscapes : From the Stories of Stephen King ( 2006 ) Bag of Bones ( 2011 ) Big Driver ( 2014 ) Salem 's Lot Salem 's Lot ( 1979 ) A Return to Salem 's Lot ( 1987 ) Salem 's Lot ( 2004 ) Sometimes They Come Back Sometimes They Come Back ( 1991 ) Sometimes They Come Back... Again ( 1996 ) Sometimes They Come Back... for More ( 1998 ) Rose Red Rose Red ( 2002 ) The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer ( 2003 ) TV series The Dead Zone ( 2002 -- 2007 ) Kingdom Hospital ( 2004 ) Haven ( 2010 -- 2015 ) Under the Dome ( 2013 -- 2015 ) 11.22. 63 ( 2016 ) The Mist ( 2017 ) Mr. Mercedes ( 2017 -- present ) Castle Rock ( 2018 -- present ) Operas Dolores Claiborne ( 2013 ) The Shining ( 2016 ) Book Films directed by Rob Reiner This Is Spinal Tap ( 1984 ) The Sure Thing ( 1985 ) Stand by Me ( 1986 ) The Princess Bride ( 1987 ) When Harry Met Sally... ( 1989 ) Misery ( 1990 ) A Few Good Men ( 1992 ) North ( 1994 ) The American President ( 1995 ) Ghosts of Mississippi ( 1996 ) The Story of Us ( 1999 ) Alex & Emma ( 2003 ) Rumor Has It ( 2005 ) The Bucket List ( 2007 ) Flipped ( 2010 ) The Magic of Belle Isle ( 2012 ) And So It Goes ( 2014 ) Being Charlie ( 2015 ) LBJ ( 2016 ) Shock and Awe ( 2017 ) Works by William Goldman Plays Tenderloin ( 1960 ) Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole ( 1961 ) A Family Affair ( 1962 ) Misery ( 2012 ) Novels The Temple of Gold ( 1957 ) Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow ( 1958 ) Soldier in the Rain ( 1960 ) Boys and Girls Together ( 1964 ) No Way to Treat a Lady ( 1964 ) The Thing of It Is... ( 1967 ) Father 's Day ( 1971 ; sequel to The Thing of It Is ) The Princess Bride ( 1973 ) Wigger ( 1974 ) Marathon Man ( 1974 ) Magic ( 1976 ) Tinsel ( 1979 ) Control ( 1982 ) The Silent Gondoliers ( 1983 ) The Color of Light ( 1984 ) Heat ( 1985 ) Brothers ( 1986 ) Films Masquerade ( 1965 ) Harper ( 1966 ) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ( 1969 ) The Hot Rock ( 1972 ) The Stepford Wives ( 1975 ) The Great Waldo Pepper ( 1975 ) Marathon Man ( 1976 ) All the President 's Men ( 1976 ) A Bridge Too Far ( 1977 ) Magic ( 1978 ) Mr. Horn ( 1979, TV ) Heat ( 1986 ) The Princess Bride ( 1987 ) Misery ( 1990 ) Memoirs of an Invisible Man ( 1992 ) Year of the Comet ( 1992 ) Chaplin ( 1992 ) Maverick ( 1994 ) The Chamber ( 1996 ) The Ghost and the Darkness ( 1996 ) Absolute Power ( 1997 ) The General 's Daughter ( 1999 ) Hearts in Atlantis ( 2001 ) Dreamcatcher ( 2003 ) Wild Card ( 2015 ) Non-fiction The Season : A Candid Look at Broadway ( 1969 ) The Story of ' A Bridge Too Far ' ( 1977 ) Adventures in the Screen Trade ( 1983 ) Wait Till Next Year ( with Mike Lupica, 1988 ) Hype and Glory ( 1990 ) Which Lie Did I Tell ? ( 2000 ) The Big Picture : Who Killed Hollywood ? and Other Essays ( 2000 ) WorldCat Identities BNF : cb14636711d ( data ) GND : 4573762 - 9 VIAF : 293128033 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Misery_(film)&oldid=865653376 '' Categories : 1990 films English - language films 1990 horror films 1990s psychological thriller films American psychological thriller films American psychological horror films American horror thriller films Films about abduction Films about writers Films based on American horror novels Films based on works by Stephen King Films directed by Rob Reiner Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award - winning performance Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe - winning performance Films set in Colorado Screenplays by William Goldman Castle Rock Entertainment films Columbia Pictures films Films scored by Marc Shaiman Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from July 2016 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2014 Articles with hAudio microformats Album infoboxes lacking a cover Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Azərbaycanca Български Català Deutsch Ελληνικά Emiliàn e rumagnòl Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Italiano Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Scots Simple English Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska ไทย Türkçe Українська 中文 25 more Edit links This page was last edited on 25 October 2018, at 09 : 15 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: movie about a woman who kidnaps a writer
Answer: Misery