If you’re looking for a master list of all the upcoming Stephen King movies and shows, look no further. The horror author’s long and successful career spans some 60 years, including 70 or so novels and at least 200 short stories (and we can’t forget the multiple novellas). That being said, there’s an endless amount of work to be adapted – and already around 100 movies and TV shows based on King’s various works if we’re counting spin-offs and sequels.
As the demand for non-IP horror grows, more standalone King novels are being adapted (and re-adapted) for the big screen. If you’re confused about the long list of upcoming horror movies, don’t worry – we’ve rounded them all up in one handy dandy guide, so there’s no need to scour the internet.
The Institute, based on the 2019 novel of the same name, hit MGM Plus this summer and was swiftly greenlit for a second season. The Long Walk, a feature-length adaptation of the first novel King ever wrote, is just days away from hitting the big screen – and then we have The Running Man to look forward to in November. But that’s not all: IT: Welcome to Derry, a TV series about the origins of Pennywise, is hitting HBO Max in December, with a Carrie miniseries from horror guru Mike Flanagan arriving the following year. And that’s just a few of Stephen King’s upcoming movies and shows. Whether you’re a big fan or just an excited horror buff, scroll on down to learn more.
Movies
Upcoming Stephen King movies
The Long Walk
Release date: September 12, 2025
Based on the dystopian sci-fi novel first released under King’s sometimes pseudonym of Richard Bachman, The Long Walk stars Cooper Hoffman as a young man named Ray Garraty who enlists in an unconventional contest with fatal consequences. The rules are simple: walk or die.
Francis Lawrence, helmer of several Hunger Games movies and I Am Legend, directs from an adapted screenplay penned by Strange Darling scribe JT Mollner. The ensemble cast includes gut-wrenching performances from David Jonsson, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Tut Nyot, Garrett Wareing, and Jordan Gonzalez. Mark Hamill stars as the Major, the fascist leader of Garraty’s cruel world. Plus, the film has a pretty loud stamp of approval from King himself.
The Running Man
Release date: November 14, 2025
It’s been adapted for the big screen once before, but this time, The Running Man is back with a reimagining from none other than Edgar Wright and writing partner Michael Bacall. The dystopian sci-fi novel, also initially published under King’s Richard Bachman pseudonym, follows protagonist Ben Richards as he becomes a contestant in a reality show called The Running Man. The contestants, allowed to run anywhere in the world, are chased by the general public, who win a pretty large sum of money if they manage to hunt and kill them.
This time around, Glen Powell plays Ben Richards, with Josh Brolin as show producer Dan Killian, Colman Domingo as the eccentric host Bobby Thompson, Lee Pace as Evan McCone, Emilia Jones as Amelia Williams, Katy O’Brien as contestant Laughlin, and William H. Macy as Bradley Thockmorton. Though Paul Michael Glaser’s 1987 film was categorized as a loose adaptation, Wright has promised that this one is much more faithful to the book.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Release date: TBD
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is one of those underrated King novels that fans have continually asked for an adaptation of. Lucky for us, JT Mollner, director of Strange Darling and writer of The Long Walk, is set to helm the forthcoming pic from Lionsgate (via The Hollywood Reporter). The 1999 novel follows a nine-year-old girl named Trisha who gets lost in the woods with just her Walkman and begins to hallucinate that her hero, baseball player Tom Gordon, is coming to her rescue.
George A. Romero was initially set to helm an adaptation not long after the novel’s release, but the project stalled out shortly before his death. In 2019, the project was revived once more with Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin, Die My Love) set to direct. However, Vertigo let the rights to the film lapse, with Lionsgate optioning them in 2025.
Cujo
Release date: TBD
It was announced in spring 2025 that Netflix had brokered a deal to adapt Cujo, the 1981 novel about a killer dog – though no directors or writers have been attached to the project just yet. It’s one of King’s sadder tales, with a previously sweet St. Bernard becoming a murderer after contracting rabies and going after a mother and her child who suffers from seizures.
The book was first adapted for the big screen in 1983, starring Dee Wallace as the titular mother. Lewis Teague, who also directed the adaptation of The Cat’s Eye, served as director. The film was ultimately panned by critics, but now sits in the gallery of lower-rated Stephen King adaptations that have become cult classics. There isn’t too much info out there about the upcoming pic, but we do know Weapons and The Long Walk’s Roy Lee is set to produce.
Billy Summers
Release date: TBD
An adaptation of King’s 2021 novel about a semi-retired hitman was first announced in 2022 as a ten-episode limited series under J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production banner. In 2023, Deadline announced that Bad Robot would link up with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way to turn it into a feature-length film. It’s speculated that Abrams will direct with DiCaprio playing the titular character, but we’ll hold off on getting excited until we see an official announcement. It’s confirmed, however, that Ed Zwick (Shakespeare in Love) and Marshall Herskovitz (Traffic) are writing the screenplay.
The novel follows Billy Summers, a hitman who only takes on jobs that involve killing people he deems truly evil. He agrees to one last lucrative job, but begins to suspect that the mobsters who hired him are setting him up. We could definitely see DiCaprio in the role, though Taylor Kitsch is a popular fan cast.
Elevation
Release date: TBD
In 2021, Jack Bender told CinemaBlend that he had a script ready to go for a live-action adaptation of King’s 2018 novella Elevation – and even though the producer and showrunner is busy with the TV adaptation of The Institute (which just got the greenlight for a second season), the project does appear to be going forward… even though we don’t know too much about it just yet.
The novella, a mere 144 pages (which is quite short for King, given that the IT novel could be wielded as a weapon), follows a man named Scott Carey who is afflicted with a mysterious illness with bizarre effects that don’t seem to be physical. While he embarks on a journey to cure his disease, he also helps a local lesbian couple who are facing backlash for opening a restaurant in the small (and deeply haunted) town of Castle Rock, Maine. From what we’ve seen with Under the Dome, Mr. Mercedes, and The Institute, we can assume that Bender’s adaptation is a faithful one – though he did say that he “invented some stuff” for the story.
TV shows
Upcoming Stephen King TV shows
IT: Welcome to Derry
Release date: October 2025
IT and IT: Chapter 2 director Andy Muschietti is back in action to bring us even more of Bill Skarsgård’s terrifying take on Pennywise – and we’re so ready. Welcome to Derry, a prequel to Muschietti’s IT adaptations, takes place 27 years before the events of the first IT film, and explores the origins of Pennywise the Dancing Clown and his ultimate descent upon Derry, Maine. The cast includes Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Taylour Paige, James Remar, and Stephen Rider.
Though the series has yet to premiere, Muschietti already has a three-season plan for the show, previously revealing that, “The first season is 1962, the second season is 1935, and the third season is 1908.” Jason Fuchs, who co-produced IT: Chapter 2, and Brad Kane (the singing voice of Disney’s Aladdin since 1992), serve as showrunners.
Carrie
Release date: 2026
It’s no secret that Stephen King loves Mike Flanagan, with Gerald’s Game being the filmmaker’s first foray into King adaptations. Flanagan then went on to direct Doctor Sleep and The Life of Chuck before it was announced that he would write and direct an eight-episode miniseries based on King’s 1974 novel Carrie. The book, which follows a bullied teenager with an abusive religious mother who discovers that she has telekinetic powers, is the most adapted King novel as it stands, with three different feature-length films, one sequel, and a musical.
We don’t know much about Flanagan’s take on the novel, given that the series has not yet wrapped filming, but we know we’re probably in for something truly spooky. Newcomer Summer H. Howell stars as Carrie White, with Siena Agudong as Sue Snell, Samantha Sloyan as Margaret White, Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen, and Amber Midthunder as Rita Desjardian. Matthew Lillard, Katee Sackoff, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, and Heather Graham also star.
Fairy Tale
Release date: TBD
In 2022, it was announced that Jason Bourne film franchise helmer Paul Greengrass was set to write, direct, and produce a feature-length adaptation of King’s 2022 novel Fairy Tale. In 2024, however, Deadline reported that A24 was now turning the proposed film into a 10-episode TV series with Fringe creator J.H. Wyman to serve as showrunner.
The novel, which is more dark fantasy YA than King’s usual adult horror, follows a 17-year-old boy named Charlie Reade, who suddenly inherits a set of mysterious keys that open a hidden realm, and finds himself on the frontlines of a war between the forces of good and evil. Greengrass’s initial script will still be used for the TV series, but will be re-adapted for the small screen by him and Wyman.
The Dark Tower
Release date: TBD
After a less-than-successful feature film hit the big screen in 2017, it was only a matter of time before a new adaptation of The Dark Tower entered the chat. In 2022, Mike Flanagan announced that he, along with producing partner Trevor Macy, would helm a new version of The Dark Tower for Prime Video… which will take place over the course of five seasons, followed by two standalone features.
The novel series, which is a dark fantasy western sci-fi of sorts, follows a gunslinger named Roland Deschain as he embarks on a quest through a vast desert to hunt down his nemesis, known as “the man in black.” Given that there are seven novels (and one prequel novella) in The Dark Tower series, five seasons and two movies make perfect sense. We don’t know much else about the forthcoming adaptation just yet, as Flanagan is still hard at work with his Carrie miniseries, but we do know that the deal has been signed.
The Talisman
Release date: TBD
It’s the novel that Steven Spielberg spent some 35 years trying to adapt, but couldn’t find a way to make it work as a film. In 2019, a movie was finally (though cryptically) announced with involvement from The Handmaid’s Tale director Mike Barker. Now, the 1984 joint venture between King and the late Peter Straub is headed to streaming as a TV series (via The Hollywood Reporter). The Duffer brothers, creators of the hit sci-fi show Stranger Things, are set to executive produce in conjunction with Netflix and Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, with Stranger Things writer Curtis Gwinn as head writer and showrunner.
The Talisman follows Jack Sawyer, a 12-year-old boy who embarks on a perilous, fantastical journey in order to retrieve a magical object that will save his dying mother’s life. The novel takes place in two realities: the United States circa 1984, and its parallel fantasy world, The Territories. As of right now, the project remains in active development – and given the recent success of The Institute TV adaptation, it’s likely that work on the project will begin fairly soon.
Cancelled Stephen King projects
Cancelled/Unrealized/In Development Hell Stephen King projects
From a Buick 8
We’re not sure why a film adaptation of 2002’s From a Buick 8 hasn’t been able to get off the ground, but we’ve decided to remain hopeful. The novel, which can be described as a more modern take on the killer car story we saw in 1983’s Christine, sees the members of a Pennsylvania police troop recount the story of an old Buick 8 kept in a shed – that may have very well been linked to the death of one of their fellow men.
Sometime in 2007, Tobe Hooper had been tapped to direct a feature-length adaptation, but the project never materialized. George A. Romero had reportedly been attached to direct at one point as well. In 2018, Variety announced that William Brent Bell (The Boy, Orphan: First Kill) would write and direct the film (though his take on the book was more of a loose adaptation). Hyde Park Entertainment (Premonition, Ghost Rider) was set to produce. Two years later, however, actor Thomas Jane announced that Jim Mickle (who most recently co-developed the Netflix adaptation of Sweet Tooth) was set to direct under Jane’s new Renegade Entertainment banner… but the rights ultimately lapsed. In 2024, Bell told Fangoria that he believes James Wan’s Atomic Monster now owns the rights and that a miniseries is being developed, but no official announcements have been made.
Christine
There’s nothing quite like John Carpenter’s Christine, and we’re not sure if we necessarily need a second adaptation of King’s 1983 novel about a 1958 Plymouth Fury with jealous and murderous tendencies. In 2021, it was announced that Bryan Fuller, creator of the deeply loved but short-lived Hannibal TV series, was set to write and direct a new full-length adaptation of the novel for Blumhouse.
Despite star Keith Gordon and Carpenter both giving their blessing for the remake in conversation with Total Film about the movie’s 40th anniversary, the project appears to have completely stalled out (at least according to ScreenRant). Some murmurings include a disagreement with the studio about how to modernize the film, but nothing has been confirmed. For now, it hangs in limbo, but we’ll move it to the top of the list the second we get an update.
The Tommyknockers
Given that the 1993 miniseries was a critical failure (and notoriously hated by King himself), we understand why a new adaptation of sci-fi-horror The Tommyknockers would enter production. Unfortunately, this seems to be another King project that’s been put on the back burner for now. In 2018, it was announced that Universal Pictures had won the bidding war for the rights to the book and that James Wan was set to produce under his Atomic Monster banner in a joint venture (via The Hollywood Reporter). Larry Sanitsky, the producer of the 1993 miniseries, was also signed on to produce. No director or writer was attached to the project, and we haven’t heard any news in the seven years since the movie was first announced.
The book, which King himself isn’t a big fan of, sees the citizens of a town in Maine stumble upon an alien spacecraft that releases a gas that turns people into the same aliens that once boarded the ship. A new miniseries was also announced back in 2013, initially set to air on NBC, but that also stalled out.
Joyland
Another project that we’re sad to see in development hell, as there hasn’t been much of an update since an adaptation of the 2013 novel was announced back in 2018. Freeform, known for its various teen dramas, was set to adapt Joyland as a series with Chris Peña (Jane the Virgin) and Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Stoning of Soraya M.) set to write the pilot script (via Deadline).
The novel follows a college student named Devin Jones who takes a summer job at a North Carolina amusement park known as Joyland. After a fortune teller gives him an ominous reading about what the summer will hold, Devin finds himself confronting the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways in which both will change his life forever.
The Dark Half
This one is a bit of a mystery, given that there is virtually no other news except for a very brief Variety article from 2019 that MGM would produce a new adaptation of the 1989 novel with Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell) set to direct.
The book, which follows an author whose pseudonym comes to life and begins committing grisly crimes, was written by King as a response to his previously secret Richard Bachman persona being publicly outed. The late, great George A. Romero directed a feature-length adaptation in 1993, which starred Timothy Hutton as the aforementioned novelist.
Sleeping Beauties
A TV series based on Sleeping Beauties, the 2017 joint novel between King and his son Owen, was ordered to pilot in 2019… but we haven’t heard anything since then. AMC reportedly ordered the pilot, envisioning it as an “open-ended TV series” with Owen to write it.
The novel takes place in a women’s prison in West Virginia, where the inmates, as well as women around the world, become stricken with a mysterious sickness dubbed “Aurora.” The sickness makes them fall asleep, with a gauze-like substance cocooning around their bodies. If someone tries to open the cocoon, the women awake in a homicidal rage. It’s a cool premise for a sci-fi thriller series, and we hope it makes it out of development hell one day.
For even more, check out our list of the best Stephen King movies to watch right now.
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