On most days it feels impossible to be a fan of horror and not also a fan of Stephen King. Called “The King of Horror” by many, he is ubiquitous, like an all-seeing floating squid monster from an HP Lovecraft story. And it’s no wonder – King, one of the most prolific and famous writers of our time, has written 64 novels, 5 nonfiction books, and about 200 short stories. Even today, in a typical year, he publishes two new novels. He must have made some sort of Faustian deal with the devil to be able to write so consistently.
But in all seriousness, Stephen King’s novels and stories have been adapted into some of the most beloved horror films of the past 50 years. And, like his books, there are just this much theirs. The most notable film and television programs adapted from King’s Stories include: career (1976), The shining (1980), horror show (1982), cujo (1983), Christine (1983), Children of the corn (1984), The running man (1987), Pet Sematary (1989), Trouble (1990), It (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), thinner (1996) The green mile (1999), 1408 (2007), The Dark Tower (2017), It (2017), It: Chapter Two (2019), and Doctor Sleep (2019).
After the blockbuster success of the It Reboot movies in 2017 and 2019, now making up one of the most lucrative horror franchises in history, studios are falling over themselves to find more Stephen King properties to adapt and reboot. Here are some of the most notable Stephen King adaptations expected to appear in the coming years.
mr. Harrigan’s Phone – Release October 2022
Craig works as an assistant for the elderly Mr. Harrigan, but the old man dies tragically. Without anyone else to talk to, Craig calls Mr. Harrigan’s phone and leaves a voicemail about someone bullying him. Shortly afterwards, the bully is found dead from apparent suicide. Blumhouse Productions is producing the film, based on the novella “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” from King’s 2020 story collection When it bleeds.
It is directed by John Lee Hancock (The blind side, mr. Saving Banks, The founder) and star Jaeden Martell (young Bill Denbrough in the It reboot movies), Donald Sutherland (The hunger Games franchise), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (the sandman, Barry), and Joe Tippett (To get up).
Mr. Harrigan’s phone is scheduled for release on Netflix on October 5, 2022.
Salem’s Lot – release in 2023
When writer Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem, Lot and discovers it is being plagued by a vampire, he teams up with the locals to rid the city of its undead predator. The film is based on the 1975 novel of the same name, King’s second novel ever published. It will be directed by Gary Dauberman (writer of the Anabelle haunted puppet films and the It reboot movies) and plays Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick) and Makenzie Leigh (Billy Lynn’s long rest walk).
Fate of Salem was initially scheduled for September this year, but was pushed back by Warner Bros. Pictures “due to COVID-related post-production delays”. The release is now slated for sometime in 2023.
The Boogeyman – 2023 release
A mother’s death causes her husband to retreat in grief, leaving their two young daughters helpless when they begin to feel a strange presence in the house. Based on the short story of the same name from King’s short story collection from 1978 Night shift.
the bogeyman will be directed by Rob Savage, produced by 20th Century Studios, and will be released exclusively on Hulu sometime in 2023.
From a Buick 8 – TBA Release
A group of ex-cops share stories of a mysterious Buick they encountered many years ago who became the center of several strange disappearances. The film will be based on From a Buick 8published in 2002, one of the few older King novels that has never been adapted.
In 2019 Thomas Jane (Boogie nights, the punisher) announced that he would form a new production company, Renegade Entertainment, with producer Courtney Lauren Penn to adapt the novel. As of August 2020, the project is still going on, with Jim Mickle (sweet tooth) directing.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon – TBA Release
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a 1999 novel about a girl who gets lost during a hike and must survive on her own in the wilderness. It was initially supposed to be adapted by legendary horror director George A. Romero in the early 2000s, but plans sputtered around 2005 and Romero died in 2017.
The project has recently been revived and will be produced by Chris Romero (aka Christine Forrest, Romero’s ex-wife and producer of Dawn of the Dead), Roy Lee (It and It: Chapter Two), Jon Berg (Justice League), and Ryan Silbert (The girl is in trouble). As of November 2020, Lynne Ramsay (We need to talk about Kevin) is set to direct.
The Running Man – TBA Release
The running man is a dystopian thriller novel published by King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982. The premise is a grim reality show anno 2025 in which participants are unleashed into the world and hunted by the viewers, who receive a large cash prize for killing them.
In 1987, the novel was loosely adapted as an Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action movie, full of predictably cheap one-liners. According to Paramount Pictures, this new adaptation will be more faithful to the novel. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Busy hassle) will direct.
Throttle – TBA Release
In Throttle lever, a group of motorcyclists fight a tanker that tries to run them off the road. The film will be an adaptation of the novella co-written by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill, which in turn was inspired by the 1971 short story “Duel” by legendary science fiction and horror author Richard Matheson.
A film adaptation was first announced in 2017, and it was announced in 2020 that HBO Max would start distributing it. From 2020, David S. Goyer (Sheet: Trinity) and Keith Levine (Scream: The TV Series) producing, with Leigh Dana Jackson (Sleepy Hollow), Scream: The TV Series) to write.
The Tommyknockers – TBA Release
The Tommy Knockers is a 1987 novel by King that marked a rare foray into pure science fiction. Equivalent to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, an alien spacecraft lands on Earth and begins to exert a powerful influence on the inhabitants of a nearby town. King himself has since called it a “terrible book.”
It was made into a TV miniseries in 1993, but in 2018 it was announced that modern-day horror master James Wan (Saw, the incantation, treacherous) would produce a movie version. However, not much has come out since then.
Overlook – TBA Release
Warner Bros. TV is working on a spin-off of King’s 1977 novel The shining. It is known that King disliked the 1980 Stanley Kubrick film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall and helped produce a 1997 miniseries that was more accurate to the books. In 2013, King wrote a sequel to The shining called Doctor Sleepwhich was also filmed in 2019.
Survey is planned as a prequel streaming series and will explore the history of the Overlook Hotel and what happened before the Torrances arrived. Presumably, it will draw heavily on the hotel stories and knowledge explored in the novel, but left out entirely from the Kubrick adaptation. JJ Abrams (Lost, Star Trek, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) is set to produce, and the series will hit Netflix.
Pet Sematary Prequel – TBA Release
One of King’s most famous novels, the 1983 Pet Sematary, could also get another movie. It was first adapted in 1989 and again in 2019, and now a prequel movie is in development. In an interview with Comicwriter Jeff Buhler said in 2019 that they had toyed with the idea of creating a prequel film that would “depict the mythology of the city, these rituals that present children, the mythology of the Miꞌkmaq, the Wendigo, the cemetery, the origin Jud’s Life.”
In 2021, the film was officially confirmed, with Buhler’s writing, Lorenzo di Bonaventura (2019’s Pet Sematary, GI Joe, Transformers), and Lindsey Beer makes her directorial debut. The film is exclusive to Paramount+.
The Talisman – TBA Release
the talisman ia 1984 fantasy novel co-written by Stephen King and horror author Peter Straub. It follows a young boy on an adventure through a terrifying alternate-reality United States to find a magical talisman that will save his dying mother.
A film adaptation has apparently been decades in the making. In 2021, it was officially announced that a television series would be produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, along with the Duffer Brothers (Weird stuff). It will eventually appear on Netflix.