1408 Plot

1408 is a 2007 film based on the Stephen King short story of the same name. Swedish film director Mikael Håfström is the director. The cast includes John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson and Mary McCormack. The film was released in the US on June 22, 2007, although July 13th is mentioned as the release date in the trailer posted on the website. The film has been rated PG-13 for thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, frightening images, and language.

Author Mike Enslin's (Cusack) search for the supernatural has come up empty and he's released a pair of bestsellers disproving myths and rumored hauntings. His latest subject is a hotel room in Manhattan with an ominous past. In his determination to prove the room's not haunted, Enslin may stumble into a real-life ghost story.

Mike Enslin (Cusack) is a skeptic that has made it his personal mission to debunk supposedly supernatural hot spots through various, seldom-read novels, as well as pamphlets from allegedly haunted hotel rooms. His motivation comes from remorse over his daughter’s death, Katie, and a resentment that if something divine did exist then it let her die. An anonymous sender mails him a card warning him not to visit the Dolphin Hotel and stay in Room 1408 which he accepts as a challenge. After much pleading with the hotel’s manager Gerald Olin (Jackson) he gets to stay in the room which he is warned that there have been 56 deaths in and no one has survived more than an hour.

Soon, the room begins with small unusual events, such the radio cutting on by itself and toilet paper redoing itself. Mike merely sees these as someone playing tricks. Soon however he realizes that the room may truly be evil. He is attacked by apparitions, has flashbacks of the past in which his daughter dies, and eventually the room freezes and floods. All the while the clock is counting down from 1 hour. He wakes up in L.A., but it all turns out to be another illusion and he wakes back up in the now destroyed room. He then sees that something is posing as his daughter. As "Katie" embraces Mike, she dies in his arms and the radio plays loudly again. He finds the room has restored itself and that the clock is counting down again. Mike realizes that the room will continue to torture him until he "checks out" (kills himself).

Mike instead sets the room on fire which evacuates the hotel, summons the firemen, and prevents his separated wife (McCormack) from trying to come to the room which had hijacked a Yahoo instant message from Mike and told her to come. She arrives at the Dolphin and begs the firemen to rescue Mike from the burning room, which they are able to do, and so Mike gets out of the room and treated at a hospital.

In the final scene Mike stops his wife from throwing away his handheld recorder. After listening to the recording, and hearing his daughter's voice on it, his wife steps back in shock and horror as they both realize Mike's adventure in room 1408 was in fact real.

In November 2003, Dimension Films optioned the rights to the 2000 short story "1408" by Stephen King. The studio hired screenwriter Matt Greenberg to adapt the story into a screenplay. In October 2005, Mikael Håfström was hired to direct 1408, with the screenplay being rewritten by screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. In March 2006, actor John Cusack was cast to star in the film, joined by actor Samuel L. Jackson the following April. In July, actress Kate Walsh was cast to star opposite Cusack as the protagonist's ex-wife, but she was forced to exit in August due to scheduling conflicts with her role on Grey's Anatomy. She was replaced by actress Mary McCormack.

Reviews were mostly positive for the film and was certified "Fresh" by Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 76%, stating that "relying on psychological tension rather than overt violence and gore, 1408 is a genuinely creepy thriller with a strong lead performance by John Cusack." Most of the reviews praise both Cusack's and Jackson's performances in the film, and many of the positive reviews say that the film was one of the best King films since The Shining.

On its first weekend, 1408 debuted at #2 and made $20.6 million, and exceeded expectations ($12-18 million), making it the first thriller or horror film since April's Disturbia to be successful at the box office this year.

1408 has made $25,792,109 in its 5 day total.

Director Mikael Hafstrom has stated that the ending for 1408 was reshot because test screeners felt that the original ending was too much of a "downer". The alternative ending will be included on the DVD release.