One of my nagging questions (What's with Shawhank?!1) is finally answered
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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/shawshank-residuals-225300147.html
[font size=5]The Shawshank residuals
How one of Hollywood’s great second acts keeps making money [/font]
.... The film has taken a near-mystical hold on viewers that shows no sign of abating. Steven Spielberg once told the film's writer-director Frank Darabont that he had made "a chewing-gum movie—if you step on it, it sticks to your shoe," says Mr. Darabont, who went on to create "The Walking Dead" for AMC. ....
"Shawshank" was adapted from a novella, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King, who sold the rights to then-unknown director Frank Darabont in the late 1980s for $5,000. When he wrote the script several years later, it circulated quickly through Hollywood. ....
Over the next few years, TNT and other Turner channels ensured that "Shawshank" never again would suffer from a lack of exposure. "Mr. Turner, bless his heart, chose to show the movie every five minutes," Mr. Darabont said.
"Shawshank" was becoming that priceless entertainment property—a repeater. Viewers watched it again and again. Those who initially may have been turned off by the idea of a prison drama born out of a wrongful conviction were drawn in by likable characters who inhabit a world where the true horrors of prison are left largely to the imagination. The movie's wholly satisfying conclusion—a universal fantasy—gives people hope. ....
In Mansfield in north-central Ohio, tourism officials five years ago established a tour to capitalize on what had become the area's biggest draw. The prison, courthouse and oak tree where Andy leaves money for Red are among 14 stops on the Shawshank Trail, which one weekend last summer drew about 6,000 people. ....
Mr. King never cashed the $5,000 check Mr. Darabont sent him for the right to turn his story into a movie. Years after "Shawshank" came out, the author got the check framed and mailed it back to the director with a note inscribed: "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve."
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Both are pretty damn good.
