While The Mist was better than that of his original story.
Perhaps the most impressive case of a King adaptation improving on the original story comes in the form of 1994's The Shawshank Redemption, an adaptation of the novella "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption." The original story ends with the aging convict Red planning to break his parole to go and Andy in Zihuatanejo, and what happens next is never known. The movie, in contrast, makes it clear that Red is successful in finding his friend and suggests that there is a truly happy ending due to continuing to hope in even the darkest of times.
The Shawshank Redemption Movie Confirms Red's Ending
Some of The Shawshank Redemption's most moving scenes were added for the movie, but none were as impactful as the decision to confirm that Red and Andy are reunited at the end. While The Shawshank Redemption is often viewed as a story about the redemptive power of hope, the movie adaptation (and the short story that it is based on) is brutally dark for large chunks of its runtime, and much of Red and Andy's lives are wasted in an institution designed to crush their spirit. As a result, maintaining the ambiguous ending of the original novella (particularly after Morgan Freeman's heartbreaking scene speaking to the parole board) could have made the movie brutally sad.
Instead, the decision to give The Shawshank Redemption a more uplifting ending resulted in the movie firmly reaffirming Andy's enduring belief in the power of hope. Many of the changes made to The Shawshank Redemption (like killing Tommy off instead of transferring him to a new prison) made the story more bleak and downbeat until the triumphant ending. As a result, maintaining the ambiguity of the original novella after making the preceding story so much darker could have suffocated The Shawshank Redemption's message about hope, drowning the jubilant ending in a haze of uncertainty.
The Movie Ending Change Highlights The Movie's Real Meaning
The Shawshank Redemption is a movie about holding on to hope even in the face of great adversity. Leaving the fate of Red unknown would have given viewers a chance to hold onto hope, but this choice would also have made an already dark movie feel disappointing after the high of Andy's escape sequence. While Andy spent a lot of his life in prison, he still escaped, and while Red also lost out on a massive chunk of his life, his reunion with Andy at the end of The Shawshank Redemption gives viewers reason to believe that it is not too late for him to embrace life on the outside.
