You?ve been busy this decade with TV?s The Walking Dead and then Mob City, and you consequently haven?t made a film since The Mist. Any urge to get back to movies?
I?m thinking about it. Coming to grips with the fact that the business has changed vastly and dramatically, and that nobody quite knows where it?s going, has been like trying to get your bearings on shifting ice. I was very proud of Mob City, and I really devoted a very intense year to it. And that came on the heels of several very intense years on The Walking Dead. At the end of Mob City, I came in for a bit of a rough landing. I had to go in for spine surgery because I had two discs rupture while we were posting Mob City. And I realized that, from that first gig of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 to the end of Mob City, I hadn?t really stopped for 28 years. It was 28 years of just ruthless pressure, and three decades just blew by me in a blur. I felt like a guy on a bullet train.
And so I married this amazing woman, and I decided to take some real time off. We moved out of L.A., up to the central coast in Monterey, and I love it here and I?ve just been recovering from the last 28 years. It?s a sabbatical. Who knows, it could be retirement ? ask Hollywood! [Laughs] Whether they invite me back in or not, who knows? But I?m now at the point where I?m thinking that I?ve still got a few good movies left in me, and maybe it?s time to get back into it and see what I can do.
I?ll tell you one thing ? this is like crying over the fact that things aren?t what they used to be, but I sure am sad that there isn?t a Castle Rock anymore, because Castle Rock was the platinum standard of a studio, in terms of how to treat filmmakers, and how to gracefully go about your business. They made so many great movies, and had a great run of success, and I was so spoiled, without really knowing it, when I started directing. I didn?t realize how privileged a position I was in, and how well I was being treated. I knew I was being treated well, but looking back on it, they treated everyone like gold ? so respectful and supportive and loving.
And that?s not how everybody does it, so? [Laughs] It?s not that easy to get anybody to say, ?Yes,? for starters. Hollywood is an endless series of obstacles and roadblocks, basically. Whereas at Castle Rock, if you handed them a script and they really liked it, they said, ?Oh, great, let?s make this!? It was that simple to get Shawshank green-lit. The Green Mile, same thing.
So I?m sorry that they?re not around anymore, and I wish there was a place out there that had that same vibe. But that?s what you get when you have a company that?s founded by filmmakers [Castle Rock Entertainment was co-founded by Rob Reiner] who are nothing but supportive and respectful.