LIFESTYLE

WilmOnFilm Flashback: ’Maximum Overdrive’

Hunter Ingram
Wilmington StarNews
Emilio Estevez faces off with an 18-wheeler out to slaughter humans in 1987's "Maximum Overdrive," the only film ever written and directed by Stephen King, based on his short story.

Each month, the StarNews looks back at one of the region’s influential and memorable film or TV productions, how it used the local landscape and the cultural mark it made.

Release date: July 25, 1986

Director: Stephen King

Cast: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith, John Short, Ellen McElduff, Frankie Faison and a cameo from King as “ATM guy”

Filming dates: July - October 1985

Synopsis: As the world waits for a mysterious comet to pass by Earth, machines of all kinds, including a toy company’s transfer truck with a menacing goblin mask on its front grill, gain a mind of their own. As the sentient machines start violently taking revenge on humans, a truck stop attendant (Estevez) and a group of strangers band together to take on a fleet of killer trucks led by the 18-wheeler behind the goblin mask.

Tagline: “Stephen King's masterpiece of terror directed by the master himself.”

Filming locations: U.S. 74/76 West, Greenfield Lake Park, Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, EUE/Screen Gems Studios (then DEG Studios)

Fun facts:

  • The film is the first and only directorial effort of Stephen King.
  • He adapted the film from his own story, “Trucks.” It is the third local production based on King’s work, following “Firestarter” and “Cat’s Eye.”
  • It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis, the Italian film producer who help found the local film industry with “Firestarter.” His future wife, Martha De Laurentiis, also produced.
  • King has been famously candid that he was heavily using drugs (his wording was “coked out of my mind”) while making the film and admitted he didn’t know what he was doing. He has since sought treatment for addiction.
  • The Dixie Boy truck stop that serves as the central location for the film was constructed on U.S. 74/76 outside of Wilmington. It was so realistic that real truck drivers tried to use it as a pit stop and it became such an impediment that the production put ads in the Wilmington Morning Star to remind the public it was a closed set.
  • A fake copy of the newspaper from Friday, July 13, 1987 with the headline “Comet Arrives” can be seen in the film.
  • King personally picked AC/DC to provide music for the film, "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Hells Bells.”
  • Hingle took a shine to Wilmington while filming and eventually settled in Carolina Beach, where he lived until he died in 2009.
  • During production in Wilmington, King would rent out the former Cinema 6 movie theater on Oleander Drive for parties with the cast and crew, where he would screen Japanese monster movies.
  • While filming a scene about an evil lawn mower, cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi was hit by splinters of wood and ultimately lost an eye.
  • Several of the trucks used in the film were commissioned from local businesses and retained the name and logos in the film.
  • The film received two Golden Raspberry Award (Razzies) nominations: one for Estevez for Worst Actor and King for Worst Director.
  • Yeardley Smith would go on to be the voice of Lisa Simpson on “The Simpsons.”
  • The film was not a box office hit, making only $7.4 million on a $9 million budget.

Learn more: You can find out more about Wilmington’s film history by liking the WilmOnFilm Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WilmOnFilm. You can also sign up for the free weekly Port City Life Newsletter.