The impact of Stephen King on pop culture cannot be understated. His brilliant novels and short stories have regularly inspired incredible adaptations, and among the best Stephen King movies and the best Stephen King TV projects are some of the best movies and TV series (and miniseries) of all time. The incredible, fruitful relationship between King and Hollywood goes back nearly a half-century – and there are always new developments in the works.
In fact, there are regularly DOZENS of new Stephen King movies and TV projects in various stages of production, and it’s because they can all be challenging to keep track of that we’ve created this guide. From the titles that have been completed and are just awaiting release to projects that have been stuck in development hell for a little while, we keep tabs on them all here, and we’ll frequently do updates with all of the latest details.
In Post-Production
These are the upcoming Stephen King movies and TV shows that have completed production and are now either in the editing room or complete and awaiting release.
The Monkey - Movie - In Post-Production
The Monkey Release Date: February 21, 2025
In 2024, writer/director Osgood Perkins made one of the scariest movies of the year with the serial killer thriller Longlegs, but he has taken a different tonal tact with his first Stephen King movie: an adaptation of the short story “The Monkey” from the 1985 collection Skeleton Crew. Theo James will play a pair of estranged twin brothers who are forced to reunite when a deadly toy from their childhood – a drum-banging monkey – reappears and starts killing every time it activates. Based on the first full trailer for The Monkey, there’s a chance it will be remembered as the funniest King movie ever (though there is still plenty of bloodshed on the way). The film completed production in early 2024 and will be heading to theaters in 2025 with distribution from Neon.
Filmmakers: Osgood Perkins (Writer/Director)
Stars: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy
The Life Of Chuck - Movie - Completed
The Life Of Chuck Release Date: May 30, 2025
If there is any modern filmmaker who has earned the unflinching trust of Stephen King fans, it's Mike Flanagan. The writer/director has an unblemished record when it comes to making adaptations, having made Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep, and he is far from done. In May 2023, it was announced that he was developing The Life Of Chuck, based on the novella featured in the 2020 collection If It Bleeds. The story unfolds in three specific but unique acts that play out in reverse chronological order and are all connected as parts of the titular life of the protagonist, Chuck (played by Tom Hiddleston). The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival to much acclaim, and it won the coveted Audience Award (carving a path to potential future Oscar glory). The movie has been picked up for distribution by Neon for release in summer 2025 (a more specific release date has not yet been announced)
Filmmakers: Mike Flanagan (Writer/Director)
Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Annalise Basso, Nick Offerman, Samantha Sloyan, Mia Sara, Taylor Gordon, Benjamin Pajak, Cody Flanagan, and Jacob Tremblay
Welcome To Derry - Television Series - In Post-Production
Welcome To Derry Release Date: 2025
Andy Muschietti's IT and IT: Chapter Two may have covered the full story featured in Stephen King's IT, but the filmmaker isn't done telling stories set in the haunted Maine town of Derry. Along with his sister/producing partner Barbara Muschietti and showrunners Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane, the director/producer is now developing Welcome To Derry: a new series for HBO. While the two movies featured events taking place in the late 1980s and mid-2010s, the show will be going back to the early 1960s and tell the story of what happened when the dreadful Pennywise The Dancing Clown emerged from his 27 year hibernation.
Filmmakers: Jason Fuchs, Brad Caleb Kane (Showrunners) Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti (Producers)
Stars: Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Taylour Page, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, and Bill Skarsgård
The Long Walk - Movie - Post-Production
The Long Walk Release Date: TBA
There have been many attempts to adapt The Long Walk, originally published under Stephen King's pseudonym Richard Bachman, but the wait is almost over. It was announced in November 2023 that Lionsgate was developing the project with JT Mollner writing the script and The Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes' Francis Lawrence directing. The dystopian story follows a group of young men who compete in an event that forces them to walk until they drop. It’s a hardcore story and Mollner has promised that the movie adaptation will not be pulling any punches. Production on the film was completed in summer 2024.
Filmmakers: Francis Lawrence (Director), JT Mollner (Screenwriter)
Stars: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Izabella Raven, Joshua Odjick, Roman Griffin Davis, Mark Hamill, and Judy Greer
In Pre-Production/Production
These are the Stephen King movies that have made it through all the mishigas of development and are either in pre-production or have started rolling cameras.
The Institute - TV Series - In Production
The Institute Release Date: TBA
The Audience series Mr. Mercedes ended after three seasons and is now available to stream with a Peacock subscription, and one of the key creative forces behind the show – director/producer Jack Bender is now working on another Stephen King property. This time around, he is teaming with The Stand's Benjamin Cavell adapting King’s 2019 novel The Institute, which follows a young boy with psychic abilities who is taken to a compound housing other kids with powers who are used by governments for nefarious purposes. Development of the show was first announced in September 2019 (on the same day that the book was released), and following confirmation that the project was still in the works in fall 2023, MGM+ ordered the show to series in June 2024. Filming of an eight-episode season is scheduled for late 2024 in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Filmmakers: Jack Bender and Benjamin Cavell (Producers)
Stars: Ben Barnes and Mary Louise Parker, Joe Freeman, Brendan Beiser, Fionn Laird, Hannah Galway, Julian Richings, Robert Joy, Viggo Hanvelt, Arlen So, Birva Pandya, Dan Beirne, Martin Roach, Mary Walsh, Jordan Alexander and Jane Luk.
The Running Man - Movie - In Production
The Running Man Release Date: November 21, 2025
The Running Man, which Stephen King originally published under the pen name Richard Bachman, was previously adapted in 1987 by director Paul Michael Glaser, but the film notably transformed the story from a dystopian thriller into an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie (albeit a great one). As a result, it's terribly exciting that filmmaker Edgar Wright announced in February 2021 that he is now developing a new adaptation that is more faithful to the source material, which follows a desperate man who signs up for a government-run game show that sees contestants hunted like fugitives. Michael Bacall, who previously collaborated with Wright on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, has been hired to write the script, and in April 2024, it was announced by Paramount Pictures at CinemaCon that Glenn Powell has come aboard to star. Filming is scheduled for late 2024.
Filmmakers: Edgar Wright (Director), Michael Bacall (Writer)
Stars: Glen Powell, Katy O'Brian, Karl Glusman, Daniel Ezra, Josh Brolin, William H. Macy, Jayme Lawson, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, and Emilia Jones
In Development
These are the Stephen King movies that have been recently announced as being in the works but haven't yet reached production yet.
The Dark Tower - Movies/TV Show - In Development
The Dark Tower Release Date: TBA
All signs point to Mike Flanagan being a consistent presence in the future of Stephen King movies and TV, and while he has been juggling multiple projects, he is pursuing his dream project: a proper adaptation of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It was announced in December 2022 that Flanagan has acquired the rights to the books, and it is specifically cut out of his on-going deal with Prime Video (it’s unclear presently what company might ultimately distribute the planned series). The filmmaker has said that he is being patient with the development of the western/fantasy/sci-fi hybrid, waiting for his moment to ensure that Hollywood is ready for what he wants to execute.
Filmmakers: Mike Flanagan (Writer/Director)
Fairy Tale - TV Miniseries - In Development
Hollywood hasn't wasted any time setting to work making an adaptation of Stephen King's novel Fairy Tale. The book was released in September 2022 and just a few days later it was announced that writer/director Paul Greengrass was in the process of developing an adaptation. The project – which centers on a teen who travels to an alternate world in the hopes of saving his old, dying dog – was initially imagined as a feature film, and Universal Pictures jumped on board, but it was recognized over the course of development that the medium would not provide proper story real estate. Universal let the project go, and Fairy Tale is now becoming a 10-part miniseries produced by A24. Greengrass is still attached as a writer/producer, and Almost Human writer J.H. Wyman has come aboard as a showrunner.
Filmmakers: Paul Greengrass (Writer), J.H. Wyman (Showrunner)
Carrie - TV Miniseries - In Development
While Carrie has been adapted multiple times already (twice as theatrically released films, once as a TV movie, and once as a stage musical), it’s widely recognized as one of the most iconic Stephen King stories, and Hollywood will not let it go. We first heard whispers of a potential Carrie TV adaptation for FX in late 2019, but that project never materialized, and now it is coming together at Prime Video with Mike Flanagan as showrunner. A report in October 2024 said that the show will be an eight-episode miniseries, but it’s unclear what kind of new approach it may take to the source material or how it fits into Flanagan’s slate of upcoming projects, which includes The Dark Tower and the next chapter of the Exorcist franchise.
Filmmakers: Mike Flanagan (Writer)
The Regulators - Movie - In Development
It was announced in August 2022 that screenwriter George Cowan and Bohemia Group are teaming to develop a feature film version of The Regulators, a book that Stephen King wrote under his Richard Bachman pen name and was created as a sister novel to Desperation (which was released on the same day as The Regulators and adapted as a TV movie back in 2006). The story centers on a small neighborhood in Ohio where characters are terrorized by cowboy/space cop monsters that are conjured after an autistic boy is possessed by an evil demon.
Filmmakers: George Cowan (Screenwriter)
Billy Summers - TV Miniseries - In Development
J.J. Abrams clearly has a passion for the work of Stephen King, as he's not satisfied having produced 11.22.63, Castle Rock, and Lisey's Story. Via his Bad Robot banner, Abrams is now developing a miniseries based on the 2021 novel Billy Summers. The book is about a hitman who aims to end his deadly career after one last job, and Ed Zwick (Glory, Last Of The Mohicans) is attached to direct all of the episodes. The potential show does not yet have a distributor involved, but it was reported in February 2022 that it was being shopped around.
Filmmakers: J.J. Abrams (Producer), Ed Zwick (Director)
Later - TV Miniseries - In Development
In January 2022, it was announced that Blumhouse Television is now developing a miniseries based on the 2021 novel Later – which tells the story of a single mom and her son, who has the ability to communicate with the dead. Lucy Liu is attached to star, though it’s unclear which role she would take on from the novel. Raelle Tucker (Supernatural, True Blood, and Marvel's Jessica Jones) was hired to write the pilot.
Filmmakers: Jason Blum (Producer), Raelle Tucker (Writer)
Stars: Lucy Liu
Christine - Movie - In Development
John Carpenter's adaptation of Christine is well-regarded as one of the greatest Stephen King adaptations ever made – but it is a movie that is now nearly 40 years old and deviates a fair amount from the source material, so it practically feels like a remake was inevitable. The project was first announced in June 2021 and will be made by Blumhouse Productions and Sony Pictures. Jason Blum is producing along with King veteran Vincenzo Natali (In The Tall Grass, The Stand), and Bryan Fuller is penning the screenplay with plans to direct the film himself – having previously contributed to the world of Stephen King adaptations writing the 2002 TV movie adaptation of Carrie.
Filmmakers: Brad Fuller (Writer), Vincenzo Natali and Jason Blum (Producers)
The Talisman - Series - In Development
The Stephen King and Peter Straub novel The Talisman, a fantasy about a 12-year-old boy's epic journey to save his mother, has long been one of the adaptations that fans want to see most but remains one that can’t seem to get made. In the past two years there have been two movie versions that didn't get off the ground – one from The Stand's Josh Boone and the other from Outlander and The Handmaid’s Tale director Mike Barker. As of March 2021, however, the project has changed course, and it is now being developed as a series for Netflix. Steven Spielberg and Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer are producing, while Stranger Things writer/producer Curtis Gwinn will serve as showrunner.
Filmmakers: Matt and Ross Duffer (Producers), Curtis Gwinn (Showrunner)
Elevation - Movie - In Development
In 2018, Stephen King added to the large canon of stories set in the mysterious town of Castle Rock, Maine, and three years later that story – titled Elevation – is, as of February 2021, in the works to become a movie thanks to the efforts of writer/director Jack Bender – whose previous credits include Mr. Mercedes, Under The Dome, The Outsider, and the upcoming miniseries version of The Institute. A sad and beautiful tale, the book is about Scott Carey, a heavy 40-something who one day discovers that he is quickly losing weight... but the catch is that his physical appearance remains unchanged, and the scales are unaffected by anything he has on his person.
Filmmakers: Jack Bender (Writer/Producer)
Announced With No Recent Updates
These upcoming Stephen King adaptations were announced within the last few years but there haven't been any updates in a while.
The Jaunt - Series
In the short story "The Jaunt," first published in 1981 and included in the collection Skeleton Crew, Stephen King sets up what is a very science-fiction-heavy concept that he merges with some extreme horror. The tale is set in a future where teleportation has become a technology that is used in everyday society, but there's a catch: if you're not properly sedated before making a trip, you risk going utterly insane. It's definitely not one of King's epics in terms of scope, but Fear The Walking Dead co-creator Dave Erikson sees enough potential in it to create a series. In February 2021 it was reported by Deadline that he has signed a deal with MRC Television that will see him turn The Jaunt into a TV series.
Filmmakers: Dave Erikson (Writer)
The Ten O'Clock People - Series
In February 2021, it was announced that producer Henrik Bastin, best known for the long-running Amazon Prime series Bosch, has started his own production company, and one of the first projects he’s developing is an adaptation of Stephen King's “The Ten O'Clock People” for the small screen. Published in the collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes, the story centers on a smoker named Pearson who, during his 10am smoke break, makes the horrifying discovery that every authority figure in the world is actually a horrific bat monster in disguise – eventually learning that it's the chemical imbalance created by the crave for nicotine that allows him to see their true forms.
Filmmakers: Henrick Bastin (Producer)
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Movie
Stephen King’s 1999 novella The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon will soon get the big-screen treatment. In May 2020, Village Roadshow secured the rights of the novella about a preteen girl lost in the Appalachian Trail who fantasizes about a certain Boston Red Sox pitcher, and it was confirmed in November 2020 that Lynn Ramsay will be directing the project. It's unclear where things presently stand with the project.
Filmmakers: Lynn Ramsay (Director)
Revelations - TV Series
It was reported in July 2020 that The CW was in the early stages of developing Revelations, a new series based on the short story “The Revelations of ‘Becka Paulson.” The show is planned as a one-hour drama that follows its protagonist after she accidentally shoots herself with a nail gun and starts talking with Jesus Christ. The story was previously adapted as an episode of The Outer Limits in the 1990s and starred Catherine O'Hara and Steven Weber. Where things stand with the project is presently unclear.
Filmmakers: Maisie Culver and Katie Lovejoy (Writer)
Throttle - Movie
With a title like Throttle, you might think that one of the most recently announced Stephen King adaptations would be a new version of Maximum Overdrive, but instead of possessed electronics, this Max original film will focus on a biker gang forced to contend with the driver of a tractor-trailer who is thirsting for revenge on the open highway. Throttle will very much be a father and son story, but with a lot of action. News of streaming movie’s development was first reported in May 2020, but there haven’t been any updates about it since then.
Filmmakers: Leigh Dana Jackson (Writer), David S. Goyer and Keith Levine (Producers)
Overlook - TV Miniseries
Following the release of the terrifying Doctor Sleep in 2019, Stephen’s King’s The Shining has become a hot property once again, and J.J. Abrams is making the most of it with the announced Overlook series. Should it be produced, the 10-episode series would focus on the famous haunted hotel featured in King’s 1977 novel and the 1980 film adaptation. It was originally set up as a Max original, but it was reported in August 2021 that the project was searching for a new home. There haven’t been any new updates about the show since then.
Filmmakers: J.J. Abrams (Producer), Dustin Thomason and Scott Brown (Writers)
The Dark Half - Movie
The Stephen King 1989 novel The Dark Half was previously adapted by the late George A. Romero, but it appears Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell) will be taking a shot at remaking it. The news was first announced by Deadline in December 2019, and the film will tell the story of a writer who makes the decision to retire the pen name he uses to write ultra violent novels only to see his non-existent alter ego become real and take revenge against him and the people that he cares about.
Filmmakers: Alex Ross Perry (Writer/Director)
Rest Stop - Movie
Stephen King just loves to write about writers, and the short story Rest Stop from the collection Just After Sunset features an interesting one. The story finds a meek mystery author channeling the energy of his tough guy alter ego to interfere in a case of domestic abuse. It was first reported in April 2019 that writer/director Alex Ross Perry was taking the helm as writer/director, but there hasn’t been news about it since.
Filmmakers: Alex Ross Perry (Writer/Director)
Sleeping Beauties - TV Miniseries
Sleeping Beauties, which Stephen King co-wrote with his son Owen King, will be another television adaptation that fans of the prolific writer can hopefully look forward to in the coming years. In April 2019, Entertainment Weekly reported that AMC ordered a pilot script based on Sleeping Beauties – which envisions a world where women are vanishing into mysterious cocoons and men find themselves wholly unequipped to handle the situation. The would-be show is an adaptation of the novel of the same name that Stephen King co-wrote with his son Owen King.There haven’t been recent updates about the project.
Filmmakers: Owen King (Writer/Producer)
Mile 81 - Movie
Allistair Legrand, whose credits include the 2015 film The Diabolical, has been looking to continue the tradition of great movies based on Stephen King novellas directing the horror-thriller Mile 81, based on King’s 2011 story that is collected in The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams. The creepy tale is entirely set at a boarded-up rest stop where a violent extraterrestrial has taken up residence disguised as an ordinary car. The project was first announced in February 2019, but nothing has come of it since.
Filmmakers: Allistair Legrand (Writer/Director), Ross M. Dinerstein (Producer)
Joyland - TV Miniseries
Stephen King’s 2013 horror novel Joyland was first announced to be adapted for Freeform back in October 2018. In October 2018, it was reported that Stephen King’s 2013 amusement park-set mystery novel was in the process of being adapted as a new TV series for Freeform. The cable channel ordered a pilot script based on the story of a college student taking what appears to be a normal summer job at an amusement park only to find that the park and the town in which it was built holds a dark secret. Since the announcement of the development, however, there haven’t been any additional details about the potential show announced.
Filmmakers: Chris Peña and Cyrus Nowrasteh (Writers)
The Tommyknockers - Movie
One James Wan-produced Stephen King adaptation we're not totally ready to forget about is his developing movie version of The Tommyknockers, based on the author's notorious 1987 novel. Set in Maine, the book tells the sprawling story of a small town that is slowly preyed upon and changed by a mysterious extraterrestrial presence discovered buried in the woods. Sadly, there haven’t been any updates since Variety first reported on the feature project back in 2018.
Filmmakers: James Wan (Producer)
The Gingerbread Girl - Movie
Director Craig R. Baxley has collaborated with Stephen King on multiple projects in the past, including Kingdom Hospital, Storm Of The Century, and Rose Red, and should everything go to plan they will have the opportunity to work together on another adaptation. This time around they have their eyes set on making a movie out of The Gingerbread Girl, which is a story collected in Just After Sunset. The story centers on a young woman who begins running as a way of exercising her grief after her baby suffers a crib death, and while out on a run one day at her father’s secluded vacation home, she becomes entangled with a wealthy neighbor who uses his own house in the area as a nest for his activities as a serial killer. It was reported in March 2018 that Baxley would direct the film from a script he co-wrote with King, but there haven’t been any updates since then.
Filmmakers: Craig R. Baxley (Director), Stephen King (Writer)
Suffer The Little Children - Movie
Suffer The Little Children is a short story about Miss Emily Sidley, a divorced first grade teacher who begins to notice that her students are acting a bit strange – only to eventually discover they are not really her students at all, but instead alien creatures that are inhabiting her students' bodies. Per a September 2017 project announcement, the movie is being made by writer/director Sean Carter, but we have not heard any updates about the project since that report.
Filmmakers: Sean Carter (Writer/Director)
Rose Madder - Movie
Domestic violence is understandably a common element in a lot of Stephen King's work, and in his 1995 novel Rose Madder, it is put front and center. An abused woman named Rose realizes that she can't continue her life with her abusive police officer husband and makes the impulsive decision to run away. This is an action fraught with consequences, the biggest being the fact that her vindictive husband chases after her. It also presents many new opportunities, however, as her journeys lead her to the discovery of a magical painting that serves as a portal to another world. The film adaptation of this book was announced in summer 2017 with The Debt helmer Assaf Bernstein attached to direct, but we haven't heard any updates since then about its development.
Filmmakers: Assaf Bernstein (Director)
As you can see, the only thing more frequent than the release of Stephen King movies and TV shows are Stephen King movies and TV shows being announced. Be sure to keep heading back to this feature regularly, as new projects are revealed to be in the works all the time, and we will continue to update this guide with all of the latest information.
