In the md-1970s, screenwriter Lawrence Cohen and director Brian De Palma teamed up to adapt a book by a first time novelist named Stephen King. They didn’t know it at the time, but they were starting one of the most incredible pop culture legacies of all time. In the decades since then, the best Stephen King movies and the best Stephen King TV projects have frequently ranked among the best of all time in both mediums… and between remakes and King stories not yet adapted, there is no expectation that the development of new projects based on the author’s works will slow any time soon.
There tend to be literally dozens of upcoming Stephen King films and shows/limited series in the works at any given time, and while that can be difficult to keep track of, that’s where we come in. As new projects are announced and either move through development or on to the backburner, we keep this feature updated to deliver all of the information Constant Readers crave.
In Post-Production
This section is dedicated to the Stephen King movies and TV projects that have completed production and are now either in post-production or are awaiting release.
Article continues belowCarrie - TV Miniseries - In PostProduction
Carrie Release Date: Fall 2026
Mike Flanagan has an impressive reputation of bringing to life challenging Stephen King projects: first with Gerald’s Game, and then with Doctor Sleep and The Life Of Chuck. Carrie, however, may be his greatest challenge yet. The seminal Stephen King novel has already been adapted multiple times – including two theatrical releases, one TV movie, and a stage musical – and there is question if there is more to say with the story. Flanagan has a vision, however, and he’s working with Prime Video to make it happen. The limited series completed production in October 2025 and Katee Sackhoff let slip the show will premiere in fall 2026.
Filmmakers: Mike Flanagan (Writer)
Stars: Summer H. Howell, Siena Agudong, Samantha Sloyan, Alison Thornton, Thalia Dudek, Amber Midthunder, Josie Totah, Arthur Conti, Joel Oulette, Matthew Lillard, Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Katee Sackhoff, Rahul Kohli, Heather Graham, Delainey Hayles, Crystal Balint, Danielle Klaudt, Tim Bagley, Tahmoh Penikett, Mapuana Makia, Rowan Danielle, Naika Toussaint, and Cassandra Naud.
In Development
This section is dedicated to projects that have (relatively) recently been announced as being in development but are still waiting to schedule principal photography.
The Mist - Movie - In Development
Following production of Carrie, Mike Flanagan has now focused all of his attention on his upcoming Exorcist sequel…but he’s a guy who has earned enough trust from Stephen King that he can juggle multiple developing adaptations while also working on other projects. In February 2026, he became attached to helm The Mist, which he is developing for Warner Bros. Very little is known about the feature, and it stirred up a bit of controversy when it was announced due to the great love for Frank Darabont’s 2007 movie, but Flanagan has calmed fans by saying that it’s not a remake but instead a movie with differences that “start page 1.”
Filmmakers: Mike Flanagan (Writer/Director)
The Dark Tower - TV Show - In Development
The Dark Tower Release Date: TBA
Remember what I said about Mike Flanagan juggling multiple Stephen King adaptations? With development dating back before both Carrie and The Mist, The Dark Tower is Flanagan’s metaphorical white whale. He officially announced acquisition of the rights to King’s most epic series in December 2022, and he has asked for patience as a number of behind-the-scenes moves need to be executed before even a single frame of the show/movie hybrid can be shot. A timeline for production is unclear, nor do we know if there are already plans set up for distribution.
Filmmakers: Mike Flanagan (Writer/Director)
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Movie - In Development
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 would take the helm... but that version of the project stalled out, and a new version is now in development. Per The Wrap, Lionsgate optioned the rights to the book in the wake of making The Long Walk, and as of July 2025, screenwriter JT Mollner has now been hired to both write the script and direct. Mollner wrote the screenplay for The Long Walk, and he previously earned acclaim for both scripting and helming the non-linear horror movie Strange Darling.
Filmmakers: JT Mollner (Writer/Director)
The Stand - Movie - In Development
It was only in 2020 that the second miniseries adaptation of The Stand arrived on Paramount+ nee CBS All Access, and there have been many filmmakers who have tried and failed to turn Stephen King's pandemic epic into a feature... but those facts aren't stopping Paramount Pictures and director Doug Liman from starting work on a new movie. Development was announced in June 2025 with word from sources that there are no intentions to make more than one film. How they are planning to squeeze the full story into 2-3 hours is unclear.
Filmmakers: Doug Liman (Director)
Fairy Tale - TV Miniseries - In Development
Hollywood didn’t waste 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. Unfortunately, development has not been nearly as speedy. 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 for the narrative. Universal let the project go, and in late 2024 it was announced that Fairy Tale is being reworked as 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)
Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream - Movie - In Development
In 2024, Stephen King was so impressed by the film The Killing Of Jenny Pen that he handpicked writer/director James Ashcroft to adapt the novella "Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream." Featured in the 2024 omnibus You Like It Darker, the story is about a school custodian who has a psychic dream about a dead body, and leading police to the scene ends up having major consequences: he becomes the number one suspect in a murder investigation.
Filmmakers: James Ashcroft (Co-Writer/Director), Eli Kent (Co-Writer)
Cujo - Movie - In Development
Netflix recognizes the draw of Stephen King – the streaming service being the home to the adaptations Gerald's Game, 1922, In The Tall Grass and Mr. Harrigan's Phone – and now the company is developing a remake of a King classic: Cujo. The project was announced in 2025 with Roy Lee attached as a producer, and Darren Aronofsky was reported as being in talks to direct one week later. While it’s unclear when production may begin, Lee confirmed to CinemaBlend in February 2026 that the project is still in active development.
Filmmakers: Roy Lee (Producer)
The Jaunt - Series - In Development
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 its reputation as one of the author’s scariest stories have kept it on Hollywood’s radar. In February 2026, Roy Lee confirmed that a series based on The Jaunt remains in active development.
Filmmakers: Roy Lee (Producer)
The Tommyknockers - Movie - In Development
You probably noticed the name “Roy Lee” popping up more than a few times in this feature. That’s because he’s been one of the biggest backers of Stephen King adaptations since being one of the key forces behind the scenes of IT: Chapter One and IT: Chapter Two. His completed King credits since then include Salem’s Lot, Doctor Sleep, The Stand, The Long Walk, and IT: Welcome To Derry, and in addition to all of the projects mentioned earlier in this feature, he apparently continues to be attached to remake The Tommyknockers – which has been in the works since 2018.
Filmmakers: James Wan (Producer), Roy Lee (Producer)
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 locals 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 developing a miniseries based on the 2021 novel Billy Summers – the project announced just a few months after the book arrived in stores The novel 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 developing a miniseries based on the 2021 novel Later. The quick bite horror novel centers on a single mom and her son – the latter having the uncanny 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. A remake feels inevitable, but we are now a few years removed from the one announced in June 2021. 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)
Announced With No Recent Updates
Some Stephen King projects get announced and then end up getting stuck in development hell for years. This is the section for those titles.
Elevation - Movie
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)
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 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)
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 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)
The only thing that outpaces the number of Stephen King movies and TV shows that move through production are all of the titles that get announced. If you’re ever wondering where things stand with a particular project, head back to this feature, as we will keep it regularly updated with the latest announcements.
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