It’s hard to imagine a year going by without one of Stephen King’s horror stories being adapted for the big or small screen.
Some of those adaptations have gone on to be some of the most recognizable movies around – films like “The Shining,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” and “The Green Mile” to name a few – but a disturbing trend lately is circling back to certain stories for new attempts at adapting.
“It” got split into two movies at the end of the 2010s, “Pet Semetary” has had multiple films, “The Stand” has received multiple limited series adaptations, and now “Salem’s Lot” has been done for the third time. It’s time for something new.
King is one of the most prolific American writers to live. He’s penned more than 65 novels, to say nothing of the countless short stories. There’s a gold mine of horror, sci-fi and everything in between in his bibliography and many of those stories are ready to be adapted.
These are the seven King stories that are ready to be adapted to the big or small screen.
Many of King’s critics say that the author’s scariest stories are in his rearview. The king of horror came out swinging and hit them square in the teeth with 2014’s “Revival.” The book rivals the likes of “Pet Semetary” as King’s darkest work.
“Revival” follows Jamie Morton from his rural Maine boyhood through to adulthood where he became a failed musician and recovering drug addict. Through all those years Jamie has constant run-ins with his childhood minister Charles Jacobs – who publicly lost his faith after being hit with a devastating family tragedy. Later in life, Jacobs become obsessed with something he calls “secret electricity” which he thinks might hold the key to peeking at the afterlife.
As King’s gotten older, he’s become more and more obsessed with death and dying. “Revival” stands as his bleakest take on what all this means and where we might be go when our time runs out. Mike Flanagan, the filmmaker behind “Doctor Sleep” and “Gerald’s Game,” was developing a film adaptation of this one but he had to drop it in favor of getting “The Life of Chuck” off the ground.
“Joyland” might not have the standard spooks and scares King is known for but it’s story is centered on a more horrifically universal terror – first heartbreak.
The small crime novel follows Devin Jones who gets a job working for a North Carolina-based amusement park called Joyland the summer after his first year of college – and more importantly right after his first serious girlfriend breaks up with him. Yes, there’s some King staples thrown in – a woman was murdered years ago on the haunted horror ride and the killer was never found! –but the book really sings when he’s writing about the misery of first heartbreak and the slow process of getting over it.
Freeform of all places announced it was going to develop a “Joyland” TV series back in 2018 but little has been heard of it since. It might be time the story gets shopped around.
“The Jaunt” is one of King’s greatest short stories and the fact we’ve come this far and it still hasn’t been adapted is a genuine shock.
The series is one of the horror writer’s true science fiction stories. It tells the story of a family using a teleportation service called Jaunting to travel to Mars for a two-year work trip. The first half of the story is the father explaining to his family how a lone scientist created Jaunting but the back half is full of the kind of weird horror that only King writes. Without spoiling, “The Jaunt” has one of the writer’s most disturbing endings.
“Elevation” is a quick novella King released back in 2018. It follows Scott Carey, a slightly pudgey guy who finds that he’s starting to lose weight rapidly despite not showing any physical proof. It eventually gets to the point where he’s getting too light for even gravity.
The story is another of King’s later work that deals with the concept of death. But unlike “Revival,” this breezy novella has a more romantic view of the subject.
“Salem’s Lot” has had three adaptations at this point – two TV miniseries and one film that just hit Max. It’s one of King’s most recognizable stories and it’s clearly beloved. So why has nobody adapted the short story sequel to the novel?
The story takes place a few years after “Salem’s Lot” and find a pair of men stuck in “Salem’s Lot” during a snowstorm. The town gained a reputation for having “gone bad” but none really knows the story of why. The men end up having to fight for their lives from some lingering vampires still hiding in town.
Fantasy adaptations have been all the rage since “Game of Thrones” blew onto stage in 2011. Why not give King’s one true straight fantasy story a whirl?
“The Eyes of the Dragon” reads like a high fantasy fairy tale and follows Prince Peter who’s framed for murdering his father King Roland. He’s imprisoned but manages to escape and confront his brother Thomas who’s on the throne now and Flagg – fans of King’s other work like “The Stand” might recognize the name and character – the late king’s magician who’s responsible for his death.
The book has almost been made twice now. Once way back in the early 2000s as an animated film and again in 2019. Neither came to fruition but it could be time to revist.
Yes, technically “The Dark Tower” was made into a film back in 2017 but if we’re being honest with ourselves it really wasn’t.
King considers “The Dark Tower” series – which spans eight books published between 1982 and 2012 – to be his magnum opus. If that alone isn’t enough to warrant a real attempt rather than the 90-minute slap in the face we got in 2017 I don’t know what is. The story almost defies genre – jumping from horror, to western, to romance, to sci-fi, and gets disturbingly meta in the final books – so adapting it will always be a near-Herculean feat but if done right it really could be the next big thing.
Mike Flanagan, who’s worked on other King adaptations like “Doctor Sleep” and “Gerald’s Game,” is currently developing a “Dark Tower” TV series at Amazon, but it has yet to get the greenlight. He’s talked openly that adapted the series is his dream project, so here’s hoping.
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