Duel & The Distributor
Edited by Matthew Bradley. Published by Gauntlet Press.
Duel and the unproduced The Distributor (both based on novellas by Richard Matheson) form companion pieces in these unpublished works by Matheson. We included the story and the screenplay of both Duel and The Distributor.
Duel was adapted by Steven Spielberg and became his first major work. The Distributor was written in the sixties and was deemed as "ahead of its time". It is another Matheson script with handwritten changes throughout. The scripts for both works are reproduced in an oversized 8 1/2 x 11 format.
Matheson expert Matthew Bradley provides insightful commentary to both screenplays. Also included in both editions are illustrations that were used to promote the theatrical release of Duel.
Actor Dennis Weaver also took part in Duel/The Distributor. As most are aware, Dennis Weaver starred in Duel, Steven Spielberg's first major film. Weaver signed only the Lettered edition of the book.
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson (1926–2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He may be known best as the author of I Am Legend, a 1954 horror novel that has been adapted for the screen four times, although five more of his novels have been adapted as major motion pictures: The Shrinking Man, Hell House, What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return (filmed as Somewhere in Time), A Stir of Echoes and The Box. Matheson also wrote numerous television episodes of The Twilight Zone for Rod Serling, including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Steel". He later adapted his 1971 short story "Duel" as a screenplay which was promptly directed by a young Steven Spielberg, for the television movie of the same name.
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