Believe it or not, over 70 of Stephen King’s novels and novellas have already been adapted into movies or TV shows. You might be thinking “Well then, what else is there to adapt?” Ha, you’re funny.
As one of the most prolific writers of our time, King, who is 76 at the time of this writing, has churned out more works of fiction than most authors can hope to accomplish in three lifetimes. At this very moment, he probably has a novel already in the publication process and another one on deck. That’s how it’s been since the mid-70s and that’ll likely be his process for years to come, if we’re lucky.
Because he has his very own private creative genius working overtime in his head, the stuff King puts to the page is usually tailor-made for adaptations. As it stands, there are still dozens of novels or novellas that still need the live-action treatment. Some of them, like The Talisman, are already in development with the Duffer brothers from Stranger Things attached, but others are in need of some love; they’re like Little League johnnies shouting “Put me in, coach! Put me in!”
As a reader with over half of his bookshelves occupied by an overabundance of thick King hardbacks, allow me to toss a few suggestions out there as to which ones need to get the adaption treatment ASAP, and more specifically where. For the purposes of this article, we’ll solely focus on movies, and save TV shows for another time.
In no particular order, here are my picks.
Elevation (2018)
As the King of Horror, one doesn’t necessarily turn to King’s work for sentimentality or emotion. However, if you’re in the mood for a good cry, Elevation is the book for you, and it would make for a meaningful adaptation. This short novella features Scott Carey, who, similarly to Billy Halleck in Thinner, can’t stop losing weight. This time around, though Scott is not getting thinner, he’s just dropping pounds, meaning his body won’t be able to adhere to the forces of gravity for much longer. Set within the familiar town of Castle Rock, Elevation features a band of characters that will pull at your heartstrings with their compassion and grace. It is also one of the few adaptations that takes a meaningful stab at a positively portrayed LGBTQ couple. If you ask me, this one smells like a Prime Video adaption.
Revival (2014)
Revival is terrifying, I’ll just leave it at that. This 2014 novel came after a particularly noticeable lull in King’s horror roots. A string non-horror releases such as 11/22/63, Under the Dome, and Duma Key left us crying wolf, but King heard our “pfft”-s and returned like a crack of lightning. Literally. Revival is a methodical psychological horror spanning five decades, beginning with the introduction of six-year-old Jamie Morton and Reverend Charles Daniel Jacobs, and ending with a soul-shattering conclusion that will leave you with shivers down your spine and a suffocating hopelessness. To me, this is an A-24 adaptation waiting to happen.
The Institute (2019)
If there’s one thing King does well it’s tell stories about young protagonists. The Institute isn’t a horror novel in the same sense as It but it does involve a group of kids with supernatural abilities who get abducted and experimented on by a sinister institution hellbent on extracting their gifts. The real horror here are the adults who lack the smallest shred of mercy toward the children they torture, including our main character Luke Ellis. I could totally see a movie adaptation raising the age of thse characters and turning it into a young adult film, but the horror truly lies in how cruel the antagonists are willing to behave to children so young. This has Lionsgate written all over it.
From a Buick 8 (2002)
From a Buick 8 isn’t King’s finest work by any stretch of the imagination, but it remains a beloved addition to his expansive catalog for the sheer nostalgia of its premise. A car that might not actually be just a car is a concept torn straight from the pages of Christine but it’s theme is much more sophisticated. Director Jim Mickle is currently attached to the film adaption but that’s the only shred of information we have to go off of. From a Buick 8 might not turn out to be the best adaptation — heck, I could even see it becoming one of the worst — but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to see this cherry Buick Roadmaster on the big screen. This drips of Columbia Pictures. Or, if we’re talking about a direct-to-streaming studio, I say Netflix.
If It Bleeds (2020)
If It Bleeds is the title story of King’s novella of the same name. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, also from the novella, was already turned into a Netflix adaptation, for better or for worse, but the real star of the book was without a doubt If It Bleeds starring the one and only Holly Gibney from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and The Outsider. In this installment, Holly is investigating a bombing. More accurately, the TV correspondent who reported on the bombing. To truly grasp the gravity of this novella, it’s best to have read The Outsider, but either way, If It Bleeds is a perfect follow-up starring one of King’s most vivid characters. This is an Apple TV Plus original, without a doubt. Bye Netflix.
Holly (2023)
Holly Gibney was only a supporting character in the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and The Outsider. She took front and center in If It Bleeds, but she wasn’t truly able to shine in a full-length novel until Holly. Nowadays, she’s working as a private investigator for Finders Keepers, the detective agency formed within the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. The case she’s tasked with this time around involves a nasty string of murders involving cannibalism. It also takes place in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Holly is King’s most political novel to date. I want to say this should go to Max simply because that’s where The Outsider belongs, but something about it gives me Apple TV Plus vibes too. Either way, Holly is bound to be an adaption sooner or later, and when it does, there will be blood.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)
It’s actually quite shocking that The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon hasn’t been adapted yet. After nine-year-old Trisha is separated from her mother and brother on a hiking trip, she gets lost in the woods, only to curb the spookies by listening to the Boston Red Sox game on her Walkman and imagining that the relief pitcher Tom Gordon is there beside her to guide her through the woods as they becoming increasingly more menacing. In 2020, director Lynne Ramsay became attached to a possible movie adaption for Village Roadshow Pictures, but there’s been no word on it since.
Duma Key (2008)
Duma Key is another novel that’s taken way too long to be adapted. I’ll admit, it might be better suited as a television adaptation rather than a feature film given the size of this bad boy, but if it’s told correctly, this underrated King novel could make for a solid two-and-a-half hours of suspense. It’s another one of those King classics involving a creatively compelled main character, Edgar Freemantle whose loss of his arm in a freak construction accident gives birth to his forgotten passion for painting. Over time, we discover the release Edgar feels in creating these passion projects elicit potentially disastrous outcomes for those around him. This one right here is a Warner Bros. Pictures film.
The Dark Tower series
Call this a cop-out, whatever, but we need another adaption of King’s Dark Tower series. The 2017 adaption of The Gunslinger starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey is notoriously one of the worst things to ever come from a King adaptation, earning a putrid 15% score on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t trust Sony or Colombia Pictures with this franchise anymore, so why don’t we hand it off to Warner Bros. or New Line Cinema. Possibly even Legendary Pictures.
Later (2021)
As much as I wasn’t personally a huge of a fan of King’s Hard Case Crime novel Later, I do have to admit it has adaptation written all over it. In this novel, Jamie Conkin is a kid with supernatural abilities (surprise, surprise), but his mom urges him to keep it a secret. When an NYPD detective shows up with a preternatural warning, it turns out Jamie’s gifts make him the only capable person of saving the day. I’ll admit this book goes off the rails toward the end, but when you figure out the premise you’ll understand why. Do you even care which production company adapts these novels? Let’s just get it adapted! (Oh wait, you do? Fine, this one is Disney… Ha, yeah right, let’s go with Universal Pictures).
While you’re here, check out our list of every upcoming Stephen King adaptation.