News from the Dead Zone #154

The end is drawing nigh. The end of the world? Pshaw. The end of the year, certainly. This will probably be my last update for 2012, and what better day to do it than on 12/12/12?

Last Friday, King made an appearance at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. During the day, he talked to a creative writing class and that evening he took part in a conversation with faculty member and writer Andre Dubus III. Dubus interviewed him for the first 30 minutes, and King took questions from the audience during the final 30 minutes. In the middle, he treated the audience to the world premiere of a new short story called “Afterlife,” which is not scheduled for publication at this time. Earlier in the day, he talked at length about the novel he is currently working on, describing the genesis and how it developed from a short story idea into a 500 page manuscript. Mr. Mercedes is more of a mystery novel and it has no supernatural elements. You can find video of the entire event at the UMass Lowell website.

Look for the rare King short story “The Glass Floor” in issue #69 of Cemetery Dance magazine. This is the Glenn Chadbourne issue, and my buddy Glenn has put together special illustrations for this creepy tale, King’s first professional sale, originally published in 1967 and only reprinted once since then.

The 24-part graphic adaptation of “Little Green God of Agony” is now finished.

The long-delayed soundtrack for Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will be released on March 19th, 2013. The (enhanced CD) Standard Edition features the complete soundtrack, dialog excerpts and digital libretto. The (2CD/1DVD) Deluxe Edition contains the complete soundtrack (with and without dialog), deluxe art work, handwritten lyrics, specially printed libretto and the “Making of Ghost Brothers” mini-documentary DVD featuring in-depth interviews with King, Mellencamp and Burnett along with other bonus material. Digital editions for tablets, smartphones and e-readers will allow users to interact with the complete soundtrack + digital libretto, as well as exclusive video and graphic materials. King and Mellencamp are still exploring the possibility of bringing the show to Broadway, and King thinks that it might make a good movie, too.

Under the Dome will be a series on CBS next summer. This isn’t going to be a literal translation, though, and neither is it going to be a miniseries. Writer Brian K. Vaughan is using the novel as a launch pad for an open-ended series that could potentially continue beyond the initial 13-week run. Perhaps it will be something like The Dead Zone series, which ran for several years, or like SyFy’s Haven, which has been renewed for a fourth season.

John Cusack will play the lead in an adaptation of Cell from Cargo Entertainment. Richard Saperstein, who produced 1408, will co-produce this feature. No word on when production might begin. And in other casting news, Chandler Riggs (The Walking Dead) and Joel Courtney (Super 8) are joining the cast of Mercy, a feature based on “Gramma.”

Ben Affleck is having a hard time wrapping his head around his proposed adaptation of The Stand. “I like the idea,” he told GQ. “It’s like The Lord of the Rings in America. And it’s about how we would reinvent ourselves as a society. If we started all over again, what would we do?” The film is still on his radar, but it won’t be the next thing he works on. “The script is not ready yet, it needs a lot more work.”

Jonathan Demme had sufficient problems with 11/22/63 that he decided to step away from the project. “This is a big book, with lots in it,” he told Indiewire. “And I loved certain parts of the book for the film more than Stephen did. We’re friends, and I had a lot of fun working on the script, but we were too apart on what we felt should be in and what should be out of the script. I had an option and I let it go. But I hope it’s moving forward, I really want to see that movie.”

The San Francisco Opera will present the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne on Sept. 18 next year, the first of six performances running through October 4.  The libretto is by J.D. McClatchy. Mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick will sing the title character, soprano Elizabeth Futral will perform Vera Donovan, Susannah Biller the daughter Selena St. George, Wayne Tigges the husband Joe St. George, and Greg Fedderly will be Detective Thibodeau. George Manahan conducts and James Robinson directs.

Remember that famous “Study, Dammit” cover from the Maine Campus? The one adapted at King’s website to say “Read the FAQ, Dammit”? Well, the original artwork was discovered recently and you can now purchase copies, with proceeds going to support both The Maine Campus and scholarships at the University of Maine. Visit http://www.studydammit.com/.

Cemetery Dance announced the publication of my signed, limited edition chapbook, Twenty-First Century King recently. The 50-page booklet compiles my reviews of every book King has published in the 21st century, starting with “Riding the Bullet” and ending with The Wind Through the Keyhole. That adds up to 21 reviews and 21,000 words of text. Seems like a theme—the mystical number 21. There are only 750 copies. They make great stocking stuffers for the King fan in your life.

And, last but not least, I recently announced my third book, The Dark Tower Companion, to be published by New American Library (Penguin) in April 2013. This massive companion is 50% longer than The Road to the Dark Tower. It covers not only the eight books in the series, but also the Marvel graphic novel adaptations. I interviewed King for the book, along with Robin Furth, Richard Isanove (colorist), Peter David (script), Jae Lee (artist) and most of the subsequent artists. I also, much to my great delight, got to talk with Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman about how they plan to adapt the series. The book features a comprehensive glossary and two maps drawn by none other than…me! It will be published as a trade paperback and a Kindle eBook, both of which can be pre-ordered at Amazon.

News From The Dead Zone #79

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

1408 comes out on DVD today. Here are reviews of the new Misery Collector’s Edition DVD and the 25th anniversary edition of Cujo.

Here’s a new behind-the-scenes video from the set of The Mist.

According to a new press release, the upcoming (November 7) 240-page hardcover edition of Gunslinger Born will “present fans with exciting bonus material. Leading the way is a series of all-new illustrations from Lee. Additional added-value features will be unveiled in the coming weeks.”

“They’re all gonna laugh at you.” A year after Jaws made audiences afraid to go in the water, Carrie raised similar fears about the high school prom. Schedule permitting, director Brian De Palma will participate in a post-screening discussion about the film when it hits the big screen at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International in Manhattan (111 E 59th between Park & Lexington Ave) on October 15 as part of the Monday Nights with Oscar series. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and may be reserved by calling 1-888-778-7575. Doors open at 7 p.m. All seating is unreserved. Featuring a new print from the Academy film archive.

King will be making two appearances in October to promote the Best American Short Stories (2007) which he edited. He will be at Symphony Space in New York on October 10th and in Cambridge, MA on October 16th. His introduction from the anthology was published on Sunday in the NY Times Book Review.

Here’s an interesting blog entry titled Stephen King’s Shoddy Cinematic Status.

News From The Dead Zone #78

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

1408 comes out on DVD next week, in a standard edition and a 2-disk version. Here’s a DVD Talk review of the two-disk version. Blockbuster has an online game 1408 Room & Doom, inspired by the movie. “Players who survive the psychological onslaught of Room 1408 will receive one of three bonus experiences. These include a special 1408 wallpaper download or a sneak peak at an alternate ending to the movie, otherwise available only on DVD. In a third experience, players can watch a trailer and behind-the-scenes footage of The Mist.” Entries in the sweepstakes must be made by Oct. 14.

Speaking of The Mist, here’s a new movie poster and a handful of new pictures.

The Stephen King Area of the Popular Culture Association is seeking papers for the Annual National Joint Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference to be held March 19-22, 2008 at the San Francisco Marriot. “Papers which cover any aspect of Stephen King—his fiction, films, non-fiction, King in the classroom, the King phenomenon—are sought for this area. For the 2008 National PCA/ACA conference, we would like to note that we are quite interested in papers which focus on The Dark Tower series (and the recently released graphic novels, The Gunslinger Born). Of course, papers which focus on King’s early writing, the Bachman books, and King’s uncollected writings, to name a few additional topics, are most certainly welcomed.” Visit this site for full details.

Finally, here’s SK’s response to well-wishers:

To Everyone,

Although I am trying to make the best of it, turning 60 is a bit of a bummer. Nevertheless, so many people who visit the web site have cheered me up with their greetings and good wishes. Not to mention all the people who contributed checks to The Haven Foundation to mark my passage into the golden city of Geezerdom! Thank you all! And now, please, can’t we just forget the whole thing? From now on, I am going backwards. Next year I will be 59 and by 2017, I will be 50 again.

Love and best wishes to all you Constant Readers out there,

Steve King
Posted 24 September 2007

News From The Dead Zone #75

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

August 17, 2007: Fangoria reports that Mick Garris will be directing a feature film adaptation of Bag of Bones, written by Matt Venne and coproduced with Mark Sennet. Garris is also producing the film version of From a Buick 8, directed by Tobe Hooper and said the he would love to direct Gerald’s Game, his favorite King novel.

Read King’s thoughts about the ending of the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling’s Ministry of Magic) and another EW column: The Joy of Looking, or: What I learned from watching Ellen.

This slipped under some people’s radars, but The Gunslinger’s Guidebook is now out. It was delayed by a week due to some binding issues.

You can now read an excerpt from The Science of Stephen King at the publisher’s web site.

1408 will be released on DVD on October 2, with deleted scenes, featurettes and an alternate ending.

Best American Short Stories will be out on October 10. Edited by King, contributors include Richard Russo, John Barth, Jim Shepard, Alice Munro, William Gay, T.C. Boyle, Mary Gordon, Kate Walbert, Ann Beattie, and Louis Auchincloss.

“The Gingerbread Girl” will be released on Simon & Schuster audio next May.

The Shining: Special Edition DVD will be out from Warner Home Video on October 23. Disc One: Audio commentary by Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown and Kubrick biographer John Baxter. Disc Two: The Making of The Shining, with optional commentary by Vivian Kubrick (from the previous DVD),  new View from The Overlook: Crafting The Shining featurette, new The Visions of Stanley Kubrick featurette,  new Wendy Carlos, Composer featurette.

News From The Dead Zone #72

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Issue #6 of Gunslinger Born comes out this week. Some shops may be open on July 4th, but otherwise you’ll be able to pick up this penultimate issue of the first cycle on Thursday, July 5th.

It was announced at Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors that Rob Schmidt will direct a big screen adaptation of Insomnia. When asked how he was going to handle bringing such a long story to theatres, Schmidt related that he’ll be focusing a lot on the town itself. He intends to cast young actors and use the special effects wizardry of Stan Winston to de-age them during the story. He says that King is a big fan of his movie Wrong Turn.

1408 had a strong second week at the box office, bringing in over $10 million. In absolute dollars, the $20.2 million opening weekend is the largest for any King adaptation ever. Read some of my thoughts about the film here.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the new story yet, Esquire released a long excerpt from “The Gingerbread Girl” on their website. Once the magazine vanishes from newsstands, you should still be able to find it in your local library or order a back issue.

Blaze entered the NY Times bestseller list at #2 and stayed there the week following its release, too.

A new Entertainment Weekly column: Uncle Stevie’s Gotta Have It!

News From The Dead Zone #71

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

This is 1408 day, and the movie has been drawing mostly favorable advanced reviews, and a ton of them at that. King publicly endorsed the movie with this message posted on his web site:

It’s a pleasure to be able to recommend 1408, the Dimension Pictures adaptation of my story. It stars John Cusack and opens this Friday. This is a genuinely disquieting movie—the damn thing gets under your skin and just CRAWLS there. For one thing, what could be more terrifying than a man haunted by The Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun?” I doubt if you’ll hear much screaming in the theater (I could be wrong about that), but a lot of people are going to be sleeping with the lights on when it’s over.

Here’s an interview with King in the NY Daily news (How the dark half lives), a feature in USA Today (SK Adapts to Hollywood), and an article in the LA Times (SK on the artistic merits of torture porn)

A couple of new Blaze reviews: Richmond.com and Bill Sheehan in the Washington Post

Eli Roth won’t be directing Cell any time soon. “I most likely will take the rest of the year to write my other projects. Which means I wouldn’t shoot until the spring, and you wouldn’t see a film directed by me in the cinemas until at least next fall (2008).”

Here’s a review of The Dead Zone season 5 DVD set. Episode 2 of Season 6 airs on Sunday night. It’s called “Ego”: Johnny’s relationship with new Cleaves Mills sheriff Anna Turner (Cara Buono) gets off to a rocky start when she tells him that her department will no longer need his help. But when Johnny has a vision of her shooting a female psychiatrist, he launches an investigation despite her objections.

Here’s a report from the Dark Tower panel at HeroesCon. For people who’ve been curious about sales numbers for the series, this site is the place to go. Gunslinger Born #4 sold an estimated 131,753 copies in May. (Issue #3 sold 132,481 copies in April.)

News From The Dead Zone #70

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Everything changes this season on The Dead Zone on USA Network. One moment took his love, took his hope, took his future. Beginning this Sunday at 10/9C Johnny Smith takes it all back in the season six premiere.

George Stroumboulopoulos from CBC’s “The Hour” has posted his interview with King.

More Blaze reviews: London Telegraph, Times Picayune review. See also Lilja’s interview with Philippa Pride, King’s UK editor.

More 1408 articles and interviews: Fashion Wire Daily, UK Metro, IESB, MTV, SciFi.com. SPIKE TV is having “creepy hotel room” week on C.S.I. reruns, hosted by John Cusack with lots of promos for 1408. According to a producer, the key detail that took the fright out of making the film: “It cost $25 million. Anything over $30 million and we make a profit.”

Here is a preview for Gunslinger Born #6. The issue will be out on either July 4th or 5th, depending on if shops are open for the holiday. Peter David and Robin Furth will be attending HeroesCon 2007 this weekend.

News From The Dead Zone #69

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Today is Blaze day. There are new reviews in these two publications: Miami Herald, USA Today.

1408 comes out next week, and there has been a lot of advanced publicity for it. Perhaps they’re trying to stave off the curse attached to horror movies of late. Here are video interviews with John Cusack and director Mikael Hafstrom, and a Shock Till You Drop interview with Hafstrom. Of the production, John Cusack told EW, “We all got Stockholm syndrome.” Here’s an article that speculates about the extra features on the DVD.

The Esquire issue with “The Gingerbread Girl” is out in most places now, and has been drawing a lot of media attention, thanks to an AP wire article that has been picked up everywhere. If you’re not sure where the story’s title comes from, refamiliarize yourself with the classic story The Gingerbread Man. “The gingerbread man did not look back. He ran on saying, ‘Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!'”

News From The Dead Zone #68

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

King was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Toronto on Friday night. Here is his acceptance speech and part of Chuck Klosterman’s interview (video courtesy of Lou Sytsma, a frequent poster on my message board, who also posted these pictures of the event). King’s publisher, Susan Moldow, mentioned that he handed her the manuscript for a new (“personal and moving”) short story, “I, Anna,” that morning. The story probably won’t be published until next year, and was inspired by the recent family death. Here are a few articles that cover the event: Chronicle Journal, CBC, Toronto Star, Toronto Star (follow-up with James Patterson, who was the brunt of a less than flattering comment by King during his interview). The event will run on Canadian television at some point, perhaps on Bravo, and will later be posted on The Hour’s web site.

Here are 8 new film clips from 1408. Simon and Schuster is holding a contest associated with the tie-in reissue of Everything’s Eventual. Cinemablend has a podcast interview with the director, who also informed Bloody-Disgusting.com that King really likes the movie: “King was very pleased with the film, I’m happy to say. When you are adapting an author, especially one who has been around like he has, it’s very important that he approves. Even though the film contains more story, we are true to heart and soul of the short story.” King also doled out some specific praise for Cusack’s performance. Actress Mary McCormack told Bloody Disgusting that two endings were shot for the film, the original too much of a downer for mainstream audiences. The director said the DVD version will contain numerous deleted scenes.

Blaze comes out tomorrow. Here’s my review and Lilja’s review. Lilja is holding Blaze week at his web site, with contests, interviews and prizes.

Several people asked me how to get copies of the DVD of King’s interview with Charles Ardia at the Edgar Awards recently. It is available for purchase from the MWA web site. Click on Order DVD/CDs/Tapes.

I got a kick out of this: 50 reasons to love SK. Especially #26, which is so true it’s funny. Or vice versa.

I read “The Gingerbread Girl,” the 21,000-word thriller in the current issue of Esquire, over the weekend. It has no supernatural elements, but that doesn’t keep it from getting the pulse pounding and the heart thumping.

News From The Dead Zone #65

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Rather than go head to head with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dimension has decided to move 1408 from it’s original release date of July 13 to June 22. Check out a very favorable report from an advanced screening at the Fangoria website.

According to Variety, HBO Films and HBO Sports are making a miniseries based on Faithful. Bill Diamond will write scripts for the program, which has been broken into six hour long episodes. The series will chronicle the Red Sox’s 2004 World Series win. Much of the program will also focus on the 86 year lag between wins.

News From The Dead Zone #60

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Quint from Ain’t it Cool News reports from the set of The Mist. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 & Day 4 (with photos). Frank Darabont will provide fans with news about The Mist at the next West Coast edition of FANGORIA’s Weekend of Horrors convention, May 18-20, 2007 at Burbank’s Marriott Airport Hilton.

Here’s a very brief interview with King in the NY Post. Quint’s interview is much longer.

In an interview with Michael Marshall (author of The Straw Men and The Intruders, which I’m currently reading) I found this line: “At the moment, I’m about to start a television adaptation of a Stephen King short story.” After a little detective work, I turned up the name of the story he’s adapting, but I’m not allowed to say anything about it yet since the deal isn’t signed. Stay tuned!

JJ Abrams had this to say to Wired News in a recent interview in response to a question about him directing The Dark Tower: “This is something that we are just now talking about with Stephen, so it’s too early for me to say that we’re even officially doing it yet just because the thing is in the early stages of discussion. I love what the The Dark Tower is. Damon Lindelof is obsessed (with it). We met Stephen, who was just the greatest, and hit it off. What’s exciting to me about it is that it is a very edgy epic. You could . . . say it’s his Tolkien Ring series, but I feel like it has a potential of being a lot more. I think that sense of that great hero, that sort of Western, iconic, almost spaghetti-Western-type hero in this landscape is just an amazing—it feels iconic to me.”

Moviehole.net reports that Dimension is gearing up to remake Children of the Corn. Not a sequel, a remake, with Saw III director Lynn Bousman attached.

Here’s an article about the artists involved with Gunslinger Born: Illustrators make `Tower’ stand out. Issue two came out this week, in case you missed it.

In a recent interview with Movies Online, Lorenzo di Bonaventura admitted that they haven’t yet shot the ending for 1408. “It was a really interesting idea because the idea of doing a real time movie in a hotel – one man in a one-bedroom suite for 80 minutes of real time. We didn’t know how you’d come out of that. Like do you need bigger or do you need smaller? What do you need? Or do you feel like he should die or do you feel like he should live? What do you feel? And so we wrote like 15 different endings because Stephen King’s short story doesn’t really have an ending. It just sort of ends and it’s not a cinematic ending. I’ll say it that way. So that’s the last piece of the puzzle, but it’s really fascinating to have done a movie all in a room and we all went sort of crazy.”

Here is the publisher’s description of Blaze, posted at Amazon/UK: “At 6’7″and just under 300 lbs, Clay Blaisdell is one big mother, but his capers were just small-time until he met George Rackley. George introduced him to a hundred cons and one big idea: kidnapping the child of rich parents. The Gerards are filthy rich, and the last twig on the family tree could be worth millions. There’s only one problem: by the time the deal goes down, the brains of the partnership is dead. Or is he? Now Blaze is running into the teeth of a howling storm and the cops are closing in. He’s got a baby as a hostage, and the crime of the century just turned into a race against time in the white hell of the Maine woods.”

The March selection of a signed book through The Haven Foundation will be Dreamcatcher (hardcover). The price will be $60 plus shipping. The books will go on sale beginning at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time on March 12th. They have a total of 25 copies available and will be offering them in small lots at random times throughout the day so that they will not sell out within the first 2 minutes of going on-sale as they did in January. The April selection will be Black House (hardcover) signed by both Stephen and Peter Straub for $80 plus shipping.

News From The Dead Zone #55

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Andre Braugher and Laurie Holden have joined Thomas Jane in Frank Darabont’s production of The Mist. Holden, the female lead, plays Amanda, who is “on the good side of the aisle,” and Braugher is Brent Norton, the attorney who lives next door to Tomas Jane’s David Drayton and has “more of an adversarial relationship” with Drayton. Holden previously starred in Darabont’s movie The Majestic. Shooting is scheduled to begin in mid- to late February in Shreveport, La. for a tentative November release.

Here’s a nice long interview with Glenn: Drawn to horror.

To commemorate the launch of the Marvel Dark Tower series, almost 150 comic book retailers across the country will begin selling the issue at the stroke of midnight. A list of participating stores can be found at here. Fans who flock to Midtown Comics in Manhattan will see a couple of special guests: Peter David, who writes the dialogue for the series, and Jae Lee, the book’s artist. The store will open for one hour.

In advance of the big release, Silver Bullet Comics’ podcast guru Tim Beeman introduces a Marvel conference call featuring Robin Furth. The conference call is hosted by Jim McCann, Marvel’s Assistant Manager of Sales Communication. Click the podcast image at this link to be taken directly to the conference call. Furth discusses her extensive experience as King’s personal research assistant and how writing A Complete Concordance prepared her for the writing of this series. Furth details the challenges of telling Roland Deschain’s back story.

Here is the trailer for 1408, which premieres in July and a positive review from an advanced screening. CHUD and Total Film have short articles about the movie, and Lilja has an interview with the director, Mikael Håfström. The movie will preview at Fangoria’s Weekend Of Horrors in Chicago the weekend of Feb 23rd.

HBO Video, through Warner Home Video, will release Creepshow III on May 15th. Neither King nor George Romero were involved in this production, which features five new inter-connected tales of horror: “Alice,” “Rachel the Call Girl,” “Professor Dayton,” “The Haunted Dog” and “The Radio.” The DVD arrives unrated with an anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Extras will include behind-the-scenes interviews with directors Ana Clavell & James Glenn Dudelson and make-up artist Greg McDougall. Retail is $19.98.

News From The Dead Zone #53

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Dimension announced that 1408 has been pushed back to July 13th. Here’s an article about The Mist, which starts filming in Shreveport, LA in just over a month from now.

This week in Entertainment Weekly, King spends an hour flipping around the TV dial. Television Impaired.

SKFakes is running another competition this year. To register, send your name and email address to [email protected]. The entry fee is £10 ($17). Over half a dozen books, all signed by King, are among the list of confirmed prizes to date. More details about the nature of the competition will be announced closer to the starting date, April 1st.

News From The Dead Zone #27

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Mark Haber, director of Crouch End, tells me that the DVD of Nightmares & Dreamscapes will contain an extended version of the episode because it was originally supposed to get the “no commercial” treatment like Battleground. When that plan changed, the episode was edited down to 44.5 minutes from its original length.

Some interviews relating to Nightmares & Dreamscapes, which debuts tonight on TNT:

My buddy Glenn Chadbourne has been announced as the third illustrator for the PS Publishing limited edition of The Colorado Kid. More copies of the traycased edition have become available because King has authorized an additional 48 copies for a total of 100. Each artist will illustrate 33 of these. This edition will feature a gallery at the rear of the book containing all eighteen pieces of artwork, in full color – that’s the three dust-jackets and three sets of five interior pieces. “We will be producing a one-hundredth traycased copy which will have something extra special inside – we haven’t decided exactly what it’ll be yet, but it will be a bona fide one-off: so that means that the author will not be getting a copy and PS will not be getting a copy. The book will be auctioned on the PS website with all proceeds (that means no deduction for production expenses etc) going to the Macular Degeneration Foundation.”

Grey’s Anatomy’s Kate Walsh has joined the cast of 1408. The actress (who plays Mrs. Dr. Shepherd, the wife of “McDreamy”) plays John Cusack’s ex-wife and mother of his young daughter. Shooting starts this summer in the U.K. for a 2007 release.

News From The Dead Zone #17

Breaking News from the Dead Zone

Fangoria has a nice long feature online about Secretary of Dreams called Illustrated Life for King’s Dreams

Variety reports that Samuel L. Jackson will join John Cusack in 1408, scheduled to film this summer. Jackson will play the Dolphin Hotel’s manager.