Stephen King is among the most adapted authors of all time. William Shakespeare takes the top spot, while Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and a few other classic writers serve as fair rivals. Still, in the modern age, it’s King who has proven himself to be the literary master of the film and TV industries. This has everything to do with the fact that King has published more than 70 novels and novellas, most of which are perfectly structured for the transition from page to screen. Still, with so much material, it would be virtually impossible for every single King book to be adapted.
While many of this legendary horror author’s creations will never be brought to the screen, there are a good handful that still have a lot of potential for an adaptation. Studios, directors, and screenwriters have given these projects their best shot, but something always seems to go wrong, and they fall through. There’s still reason to hope, however. With some patience, we’re sure to finally see at least some of these get the movie or TV show they deserve.
Sleeping Beauties
Sleeping Beauties, written by King in collaboration with his son, Owen King, is the type of story that remains intensely relevant regardless of the times. It revolves around a global pandemic, the Aurora Flu, which affects only women and causes them to fall asleep and become enveloped in a sort of cocoon. In that coma-like sleep, the women’s minds are transported to an untamed parallel universe where they must choose either to build their own society or to return to the world of men.
This story creates a striking contrast between the worlds dominated by men and women, exploring gender politics through a wide variety of characters. The back-and-forth between the two worlds makes Sleeping Beauties perfect for TV, especially as a miniseries. Of course, the ongoing mystery of this story means that a potential TV show could easily span additional seasons.
Revival
Revival is among King’s bleakest novels, and this has a lot to do with why it hasn’t yet been brought to the screen. The story revolves around a disgraced small-town minister who, after tragically losing his wife and child, turns to mysterious electrical treatments to perform miracles. The trouble is that those who are healed by these treatments experience terrifying madness and suffer violent fates, all in the name of this faithless minister’s experiments to understand the truth of the afterlife.
The Lovecraftian, Frankenstein-like angle of Revival explores humanity’s dangerous obsession with understanding death and the great beyond, and the outcome is so devastatingly bleak that previous attempts to bring this story to the screen went unfulfilled. Horror director Mike Flanagan has made it his goal to adapt Revival, but studios have struggled to give the green light due to the required budget and the simply depressing conclusion. Still, this is a project that should absolutely happen one day.
The Talisman
King wrote the dark fantasy epic The Talisman alongside author Peter Straub, with whom he also collaborated on 2001’s Black House. The story follows Jack Sawyer, a 12-year-old who sets out on a journey to save his dying mother. His quest involves traversing between America and a medieval parallel universe known as “The Territories,” which is occupied by alternate versions of people from Jack’s own reality.
The Talisman is another of King’s books that has been endlessly considered for screen adaptations. Steven Spielberg purchased the rights back in 1982, but significant budgetary limitations got in the way. More recently, Netflix and the Duffer Brothers attempted to produce a Talisman TV show, but the project fell through. It’s a real shame, since this long-form dark fantasy could easily become the next big thing on streaming.
Insomnia
King’s 1994 novel, Insomnia, revolves around widower Ralph Roberts (a resident of Derry, Maine), who begins to experience crippling insomnia following the death of his wife. As his exhaustion intensifies, Ralph develops the ability to see higher levels of reality. It then becomes up to him to stop the villainous Crimson King from warping the reality of the universe.
Insomnia ties directly into King’s wider multiverse, linking to the Dark Tower series as well as It. For this reason, it would be the perfect companion for many of King’s other on-screen works. Unfortunately, this sci-fi horror is another that would require a rather high budget to pull off, not to mention the necessity for further Dark Tower adaptations to tie in the overarching universe.
Rose Madder
Rose Madder is about a woman, Rose, who escapes her police-detective husband after more than a decade of abuse. While living her new life free of harm, Rose acquires a strange painting that turns out to be a portal to a dark labyrinth in a magical parallel realm. As she attempts to survive the horrors of this world, Rose’s sadistic husband spirals out of control while hunting for her.
This is another of King’s books that is simply begging to be adapted to the screen. Structured as a supernatural cat-and-mouse survival horror, Rose Madder incorporates Greek mythology for an added twist, layering in themes of empowerment and agency. Of course, these subjects make it a tricky story to adapt, despite several attempts since the 1990s. One day, a Rose Madder adaptation will have to stick.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
King’s The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon has also come painfully close to being adapted over the years. The psychological thriller follows a nine-year-old girl who becomes lost in Appalachia. After days of wandering, she begins to hallucinate that her favorite baseball player, Tom Gordon, is there to guide and protect her. This comforting illusion is accompanied by the terrifying imagined threat of a stalking monster, the “God of the Lost.”
George A. Romero attempted to adapt The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon in the 2000s, but the project remained trapped in development hell until the famed horror director passed away in 2017. Currently, Lionsgate has J.T. Mollner attached to a film adaptation, though the project is still in the earliest stages of development. With any luck, this The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon will actually make it to the screen in the coming years.
Fairy Tale
King’s Fairy Tale captures the heart of its titular genre while incorporating the author’s traditionally horrific touch. The story follows a 17-year-old named Charlie who discovers a portal in his deceased neighbor’s shed. It leads to a fantastical world plagued by a curse, and Charlie must fight through and survive the horrors to save his dying dog. Fairy Tale‘s basic premise appears simple, but with 600 pages, the novel is packed full of thrilling world-building and impactful themes.
The sheer length of Fairy Tale makes it a challenging book to adapt. Universal Pictures attempted some years ago to produce a feature film, but the story’s full complexity just couldn’t fit into that format. Now, A24 is working on a 10-episode miniseries. Hopefully, this time around, a finished product will actually hit our screens.
The Eyes Of The Dragon
The Eyes of the Dragon is a unique piece of work for King, since this traditional fantasy story lacks the horror or world-hopping elements the author is known for. The entire story is set in the mythical land of Delain, where a prince is framed for his father’s murder and must make a daring escape from prison to reclaim his kingdom.
The fact that The Eyes of the Dragon is pure fantasy is a significant reason that it hasn’t yet been adapted to the screen. Such a project will be expensive, and this story, being one of King’s non-horror fantasies, makes it more challenging to market. Still, The Eyes of the Dragon has a place in Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower and wider universe, so an adaptation would hold great value. It’s another book that absolutely should become an epic, long-form TV show, but only time will tell.