Though it is based on one of Stephen King’s most terrifying novels, the stage version of “Misery” will not, I promise, leave you cold with terror. The production that opened on Sunday night at the Broadhurst Theater, which stars a vacant Bruce Willis (in his Broadway debut) and a hardworking Laurie Metcalf, sustains a steady, drowsy room temperature throughout.

Never mind that we start off in darkest, deepest winter in an isolated gothic farmhouse as thunder cracks and lighting flashes. You’re more likely to experience chills sitting in a tepid bath at home.

This lack of shivers may not bother theatergoers who have bought their tickets simply to see an action hero of the screen in the flesh. Portraying Paul Sheldon, a best-selling novelist who finds himself held captive by a deranged fan who wields a mean mallet, Mr. Willis behaves in much the same way as he does as the indestructible Detective McClane while being tortured, shot at and nearly blown to oblivion in the “Die Hard” film series, for which he is best known.

That is, he’s a wisecracking, sleepily charming stoic who occasionally flinches or roars when he is subjected to severe pain, but never, ever lets us see that he might be afraid. Even when he’s strapped to a bed, with both his legs broken while the psychopath, played by Ms. Metcalf, hovers over him with a hypodermic needle, we do not doubt that good old John McClane — I mean Paul Sheldon — will prevail.