Lock your doors, close your windows, and hang up the garlic! More Stephen King movie adaptations are coming your way, and after seeing these fright-filled works of terror, you probably won’t want to leave your house for weeks…just in case a vampire/demon car/murderous toy monkey hunts you down and makes your life a misery!
Of course, Stephen King’s books aren’t based on true stories. And neither are his movies. But if you have already experienced nightmares after seeing other Stephen King movie adaptations, you can be forgiven for hiding under your bedclothes for a few days after seeing one of these upcoming films.
Here are all of the Stephen King movie adaptations currently in development.
Salem’s Lot
Release Date: 2024
Gary Dauberman, the writer of IT and IT: Chapter Two, is at the helm of this new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic work of vampire fiction.
Lewis Pullman stars as Ben Mears, a writer who returns to his hometown and discovers it has been taken over by vampires.
The movie will be released exclusively on Max sometime this year.
The Life of Chuck
Release Date: 2024/2025
Mike Flanagan, who is no stranger to the world of Stephen King after directing Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep, returns to the horror author’s universe with this new adaptation.
The novella on which the movie is based is confusing, to say the least. It tells the life story (in reverse chronological order) of a man named Charles “Chuck” Krantz who is dying of a brain tumour. We hope the movie will make more sense than King’s original work of fiction.
Tom Hiddleston takes the title role.
The Monkey
Release Date: 2025
There is only one thing more annoying than a cymbal-banging monkey toy and that’s a cursed cymbal-banging monkey toy that causes death to anybody who turns it on!
Theo James and Elijah Wood are among the cast of this adaptation directed by Oz Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter).
The Running Man
Release Date: 2025
Stephen King’s dystopian novel tells the tale of a man who is forced to fight for his life when he takes part in a deadly reality TV show.
For some reason, Paul Michael Glaser turned the book into a cheesy action flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 1987. It barely resembled the original story at all but hopes are high that Edgar Wright, the director of the new movie, will turn in a more faithful adaptation.
Glenn Powell (Hit Man) takes the lead role.
Fairy Tale
Release Date: TBA
Paul Greengrass directs this adaptation of King’s fantasy novel. The book follows teenage protagonist Charlie Reede who finds a doorway into an alternate world that has been ravaged by a deadly disease.
Little is known about the movie adaptation at present but you can read our review of Stephen King’s Fairy Tale to learn more about the story.
The Regulators
Release Date: TBA
Stephen King’s 1996 novel (written under his pen name Richard Bachman) tells the story of the residents of a quiet small town in Ohio whose peaceful existence is shattered by the shotgun-wielding ‘regulators.’
No director has been attached (as far as we know) but the adaptation is being written by George Cowan (Mr. Paradise).
Christine
Release Date: TBA
John Carpenter’s adaptation of King’s 1983 novel is much-loved but it deviated from the source material. The new movie, which is being made by Blumhouse Productions and Sony Pictures, will hopefully stick closer to the book.
The novel and the earlier film tell the story of an unpopular teen named Arnie Cunningham who purchases a beat-up 1958 Plymouth Fury with a mind of its own. Herbie the Love Bug this car is not!
Elevation
Release Date: TBA
King’s 2018 novella tells the story of a man named Scott Carey who develops a mysterious affliction that causes him to lose weight at a rapid rate.
Writer/director Jack Bender (Mr. Mercedes) is bringing this adaptation to the screen but there are no casting details at the time of writing.
Billy Summers
Release Date: TBA
Stephen King’s crime novel about an Iraq War veteran turned hitman was originally conceived as a 10-part miniseries written by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.
However, it’s now believed the book is being turned into a movie with the same writers and produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way.
The movie will tell the story of the titular hitman whose last job requires him to live a double life in a quiet American town. As expected, his final mission does not go as planned!
Rumoured Stephen King adaptations
The following were announced as being in development several years ago but there have been very few updates since. As such, there’s a chance some of the following will never make it to the screen.
- Throttle
- The Dark Half
- Rest Stop
- Mile 81
- The Tommyknockers
- The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
- The Gingerbread Girl
- Suffer the Little Children
- Rose Madder
Read More: Stephen King TV Show Adaptations In Development
Which Stephen King movies are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.