Mr. Harrigan's Phone: Stephen King Translates the Mysterious Text Messages

By Spencer Perry

Still one of the top movies on Netflix as of this writing, the mysterious Mr. Harrigan's Phone is one that continues to entertain audiences. An adaptation of Stephen King's short story, the film tells the tale of a Craig, a young boy who befriends local man Mr. Harrigan. After the pair become close, and Craig even gifts a cell phone to his mentor/pal, Mr. Harrigan sadly passes away, but even though he's no longer among the living Craig continues to call his friend only to receive messages from beyond the grave, deadly ones. King himself has now chimed in one what these messages mean, so spoilers follow!

Taking to Twitter, King revealed his own interpretation of the three text messages Craig receives from Mr. Harrigan after he dies, writing: "Messages from Mr. Harrigan's haunted phone...and remember, this is just my interpretation; I was never 100% sure.
CCCx=Love from Mr. Harrigan
CCC aa= It hurts, it hurts (as in "Aahhh!")
CCC sT=Craig, stop (almost everyone agrees; I do, too)"

Many users seemed to be glad that King shared what he believed the messages meant, with one tweeting in response: "Finally, AFTER TWO YEARS, we have some answers." One user however replied: "never 100% sure?!? YOU WROTE IT" A third user wasn't convinced though, adding simply, "It's gibberish."

Since premiering on October 5th, Mr. Harrigan's Phone has been a sizable hit for Netflix considering its budget level (and the fact that it got a mixed reception critically). The latest batch of data from the streamer about viewership for movies and shows revealed that Mr. Harrigan's Phone was watched over 35,420,000 hours in its first five days of release. Considering its genre and King's involvement, plus the spooky season, the film could have good legs for the streamer going through the rest of the month . 

Unlike other Stephen King books which have their rights snatched up for adaptation in one package, Mr. Harrigan's Phone actually came from the short story/novella collection If It Bleeds. Released in 2020, If It Bleeds had the rights to all four of its stories split up across multiple parties, though Netflix will be home to three of them eventually. In addition to Mr. Harrigan's Phone, the story "Rat" has been picked up by Ben Stiller who will apparently produce, direct, and star; and "The Life Of Chuck" has been picked up by Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa, who is currently only attached to produce the adaptation. The titular "If It Bleeds" story has not seemingly been optioned by a production company as of yet. 

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