Stephen King Never Cashed His $5000 Shawshank Cheque

He'd already written Carrie, The Shining, The Stand, Cujo and The Running Man, so probably didn't need the money but, still, it's a surprising fact to learn.

It turns out that Stephen King never cashed the $5,000 cheque that he received after selling the movie rights to his 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which went on to become one of the biggest slow-burner Hollywood hits of all time.

An article in the Wall Street Journal, featuring interviews with writer-director Frank Darabont and Bob Gunton, who played the notorious warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 film, revealed that King didn't ever take his payment.

Instead, years after The Shawshank Redemption came out, the author framed the cheque and sent it back to Darabont with a note that read: "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve."

It's unlikely that Darabont will ever need it, given the continuing success of the film; despite a modest performance at the box office, it went on to break records for its home entertainment release and subsequent airings on TV and, since 2008, when it surpassed The Godfather, it has been iMDb's number 1 ranked film.

Still, it's there just in case. Of course, he could always try and break out of prison...no, that'd never work.

(Images: AllStar)