Sam Raimi has directed everything from the supernatural horror ‘The Evil Dead‘ to the superhero saga ‘Spider-Man,’ but one of the most unusual near-misses of his career involved a Stephen King adaptation that seemed tailor-made for him.
Before ‘Children of the Corn‘ reached theaters in 1984, producers wanted Raimi to direct the film. The opportunity appeared to be a natural fit. Stephen King had already praised ‘The Evil Dead’, and Raimi was one of the industry’s most exciting young horror filmmakers in that decade. Yet a surprisingly mundane problem got in the way: the corn had to be harvested.
Why Sam Raimi Was The First Choice
When producer Donald P. Borchers began developing ‘Children of the Corn’ for New World Pictures, Raimi quickly emerged as a leading candidate for the director’s chair. Fresh off his ‘The Evil Dead’ success, his Hollywood stock skyrocketed.
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Made on a shoestring budget, the 1981 horror film earned attention for its inventive camerawork, relentless energy, and graphic scares. It also gained an influential supporter. After seeing the film, Stephen King famously praised the movie, calling it “the most ferociously original horror film of the year.”
The endorsement helped introduce Raimi to a wider audience and gave him credibility within horror circles. Given that connection, Borchers believed Raimi would be an ideal choice to bring King’s short story to the screen.
The project itself had plenty of potential. King’s original story centered on a remote Nebraska town controlled by a religious cult of children who worship a mysterious entity known as “He Who Walks Behind the Rows.”
The Corn Harvest Created A Deadline
When Borchers met with Raimi to discuss the project, he also had to address a major obstacle. New World Pictures had already committed to a February 1984 release date. That left little room for delays and forced the production onto a tight schedule.
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But the studio calendar was only one part of the problem. To achieve their goal, creators also had to beat the annual corn harvest. Once local farmers cleared the fields, the production would lose the most important element in the entire movie.
As a result, Borchers informed Raimi that the film needed to move quickly. The schedule allowed only a brief pre-production period before cameras had to start rolling. And that’s when things got difficult for the ‘Send Help’ director.
A Schedule Raimi Couldn’t Accept
For Raimi, the timeline did not work, as he had spent roughly 18 months preparing ‘The Evil Dead.’ That level of planning helped him overcome the limitations of a tiny budget and execute the film’s ambitious ideas. But the production of ‘Children of the Corn’ offered no such luxury.
The schedule allowed only a few weeks of preparation before shooting began. Raimi felt there wasn’t enough time to properly develop a feature film. Rather than rush into a project he did not feel prepared to make, he simply declined the offer.
With Raimi out of the running, Borchers hired Fritz Kiersch. His background in television commercials made him comfortable working under intense time constraints, and production moved forward as planned. Even with Kiersch’s appointment, the crew barely beat the clock.
According to Borchers, some of the corn began dying before filming wrapped, forcing the production team to prop up stalks and paint them green to maintain the illusion. The gamble paid off. Released in 1984, ‘Children of the Corn’ became a box-office success.
It launched a franchise that continues to this day. Meanwhile, Raimi’s career turned out just fine as well. He followed the missed opportunity for ‘Crimewave’ before returning to horror with ‘Evil Dead II,’ a film that would cement his status as one of the genre’s most influential directors.
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