When asked why he hasn't directed a movie since this one, Stephen King responded, "Just watch 'Maximum Overdrive'."
Stephen King later admitted that he was "coked out of my mind" during production, and often didn't know what he was doing. He remarked that he'd like to try directing sober someday.
About a year after the movie was released, the Green Goblin truck was taken to Silent Rick's Towing and Salvage in Wilmington, North Carolina. The jaw, lower teeth, tongue, and tops of the ears were gone, and what was left was severely burned. John Allison of Wilmington, NC saw it there and bought it. He sold it to Tim Shockey of Piketon, Ohio, on February 19, 1987. Shockey displayed it in his video store, Uncle Jim's Videoland, in Waverly, Ohio for several years until he sold the business. The truck sat in his backyard for about 20 years until 2011, when he moved it into his garage and started restoring it. He spent two years restoring the head, subsequently traveling across the US and Canada, taking it to horror and comic cons.
It's been long rumored that George A. Romero ghost directed a large portion of the film while Stephen King was seeking treatment for his cocaine addiction. Many fans of Romero's work have noted that the film features many of his distinct camera angles and editing choices. While King has never admitted this, he has mentioned that Romero was constantly on set and King would frequently ask him for advice about directing.
While shooting the scene in which the steamroller rampages across the baseball diamond, Stephen King asked the SFX department to place a bag of fake blood near the dummy of a young player who would be run over by it. A smear of blood would appear on the steamroller and be re-smeared on the grass over and over, like a printing press. While filming the scene, the bag of blood exploded too soon and sprayed everywhere, making it appear as if the boy's head had also exploded. King was thrilled with the results, but censors demanded the shot be cut.