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Stephen King is arguably the greatest storyteller of his generation, a modern day Charles Dickens, and writer of over fifty novels. Although King is often slated to be a “popular novelist” (said like it’s a bad thing), he is also considered by many to be one of the best American writers, an author who continually proves himself capable of merging the ordinary with the unknown – finding fear and (sometimes) hope in the most unlikely of places. The fact that King chooses to write about killer clowns and rabid dogs has earned him a fair few detractors, though.
To those people, I say: have you ever read one of Stephen King’s books? I don’t see how anybody could read Misery and come out saying that it’s not both a brilliantly terrifying horror yarn and also a whole lot more: a meditation on creativity, a novel about the plight of the author, and a brilliant deconstruction of the “fan.” Because King doesn’t just write trash – his stories are far deeper and more intelligent than what they may seem on the surface. Which is, why, I suppose, so many of them have been made into such wonderful, memorable movies.
And although King must be well on his way to becoming the most adapted author in history, there are some great works that still haven’t been giving the chance to become Shawshank Redemptions or Stand By Mes, although they’re more than up to the task. To celebrate those novels and novellas that are yet to find themselves on the big screen, here are 10 Stephen King stories that I believe to be ripe for cinematic adaptation. As much as I’d love to see them all adapted into movies, though, the odds of it ever happening are seriously, seriously low…
8. Gerald’s Game (1992)
Why It Should Be A Movie…
Gerald’s Game appears to be a rather bizarre Stephen King effort at first glance, because the plot is mostly based around the idea of a sex game gone wrong, and the main character is handcuffed to a bed for most of the story, nearly all of which she spends hallucinating. Oh, did I tell you that she’s also naked? Yes, after her husband accidently dies during a sex game, Jessie Burlingame is left tied to a bed in the middle of nowhere. Pretensions aside, though, Gerald’s Game could make a taut thriller, made up of flashbacks, hallucinations and a gripping escape story, akin to other one room-premise successes like the recent Buried, which starred Ryan Reynolds.
Why It Never Will Be…
Core idea aside, which could prove a little too much for general audiences (and even King fans, perhaps), this is probably one of the author’s lesser novels, but I do think it would work well as a motion picture. Thing is, there’s no real reason to make into one, and releasing a movie called Gerald’s Game in this day and age probably will probably provoke frowns. Really, though, the fact that this book isn’t considered to be one of King’s best, coupled with the fact that most of it takes place in one room, means it’s on the back-burner. Made cheaply with skill, it could be a little gem, but there’s a still problem inherent to the marketing – who do you sell this movie to?
7. 11/22/63 (2011)
Why It Should Be Made Into A Movie…
Every time I hear the plot synopsis for a King novel summed up in a sentence, I always end up frowning and occasionally cringing, too: “Really? That’s what he’s writing about?” But that’s because it’s all too easy to forget how King frequently takes a one-note concept (“dog has rabies”) and uses it to transcend the subject matter entirely, to the point where it seems like an insult to sum up his stories in sentences that don’t relay more info.
That’s the case with 11/22/63, which has come to be described as “man goes back in time through a magic door to prevent the JFK assassination” It’s kind of goofy-sounding on the surface, but this is a great, gripping book, and one that really deserves to be glimpsed on the big screen at some point, if not only because the idea is so damn intriguing, but because King manages to craft a wholly original and twisty plot out of an everyday fantasy.
Why It Never Will Be…
Of all the entries on this list, 11/22/63 probably has the best chance of getting a big screen adaptation – but when you consider the budget that one would have to find into order to do a period movie of this sort, it becomes pretty clear as to how difficult it’d actually be (in this day and age, anyway).
Recent creative differences just put an end to a potential Jonathan Demme-directed version – King and Demme didn’t see eye to eye, and it was cancelled as a result. Although I think we’ll hear about future adaptations, I can’t see a studio committing to one during this extended season of blockbusters, sequels and remakes. Who wants to see a movie about JFK, right?
6. Rage (1977)
Why It Should Be A Movie….
Perhaps the most controversial work in Stephen King’s canon, written when he was just 19-years-old and later published under the name Richard Bachman, Rage tells the story of Charlie Decker, a high school student who goes into class one day, shoots his teacher at point blank range, and takes his class captive, forcing them into a twisted game of show and tell where they must all admit their true feelings for one another. It’s a real page-turner, dramatic, dark, sad and strange all at once, and it would make for a relevant and taut thriller, given it was adapted with respect.
Why It Never Will Be…
Well, that’s it, isn’t it? School shooting. It’s a movie that potentially glamourises student killing sprees, made worse by the fact that a copy of Rage was once found in the locker of a kid who committed a real-life high school shooting. The fact that King asked for this book to fall out of publication also pretty much guarantees that this one will never see the light of day on the big screen, though – considering how candid and truthful and even painful the story is – I do consider that to be a shame. Rage is controversial, but it’s also an intelligent book that deals with the idea of a disillusioned youth, disturbed and twisted by the absurdities of life and growing up.
5. Insomnia (1995)
Why It Should Be A Movie…
Insomnia tells the story of Ralph Roberts, who, having lost his wife in a terrible accident, finds himself having trouble sleeping, only to discover that he’s starting so see some seriously weird things, like ribbons attached to people’s heads, and little bald men in lab coats. The idea of somebody experiencing insomnia and seeing crazy stuff might feel like an idea you’ve heard a dozen times before, but trust me when I say that this is one of King’s most underrated novels, and totally deserving of a ballsy, cerebral David Lynch-esque movie adaptation.
Why It Never Will Be…
As far as Stephen King adaptations go, Insomnia is backed up there in the realms of obscurity, and even amongst fans of the author, this one divides the line. That’s to say, there’s not a major hollering for this to get the big screen treatment anyway, but the fact that the story is so strange and less accessible from a marketing point of view ensures that we probably won’t see this one in theatres anytime soon (if ever). It certainly doesn’t help that the director of Wrong Turn tried to get this made in 2007, and the project has fallen through since, even with King’s blessing.
4. Joyland (2013)
Why It Should Be A Movie….
King’s most recent novel is more Adventureland than Carnival of Tortured Nightmares, which might have surprised those who picked it up expecting a full-on gorefest, as hinted at by the tagline printed on the cover of the book: “Who dares enter the funhouse of fear?” But Joyland, which chronicles a young man’s summer job at a theme park as he confronts the legacy of a murder, is also concerned with themes of what it means to be young, how our experiences shape us, and what happens when we get older. It’s a surprisingly sad and poignant novel, and it would no doubt make a great movie with a few cues from Adventureland. Just with more blood.
Why It Never Will Be…
Joyland is a mature work, no doubt, but it occasionally feels as though King is implementing the “dangerous murderer” storyline because he has to, and – although it ultimately works in novel form – it could clash awkwardly in a big screen adaptation, with the movie potentially failing to live up to all the aspects that make it great. Plot notions aside, this is set in the ’70s and in an amusement park. It’d be a movie way out of sync with the audiences of today, and although I think a truly great flick could be made from Joyland, it ain’t gonna happen.
3. Under The Dome (2009)
Why It Should Be A Movie…
Under The Dome is typical King in its set-up: an ordinary town come up against a mysterious force and have no choice it face up against it. In this case, we find out what happens when a huge, invisible dome cuts of the town of Chester’s Mill. It doesn’t matter why it happens, simply that it does, because King uses this idea to explore America as a microcosm of itself. Though the book is certainly long, it would make for a great, high-concept ensemble thriller, one that the likes of M. Night Shyamalan might’ve helmed with success once upon a time…
Why It Never Will Be…
It’s currently airing as a TV series over an CBS, and although the show is pretty good, the storyline will inevitably find itself stretched out beyond all recognition, to the point where it no longer resembles the words written in King’s book. Though that’s fine, the fact that we have this TV series means that we probably won’t ever get a movie adaptation. And one of the best things about the original novel was that the dome only covers Chester’s Mill for a week – the point was in how quality things can escalate when humans are cut off from the world.
2. The Long Walk (1979)
Why It Should Be A Movie…
The Long Walk was one of the first novels to tap into the terrifying game show sensibilities that would later inspire works like Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, and King’s own The Running Man. Of all those novels, I think that this one remains the best – dark, haunting and relentlessly paced, it follows a group of boys who enters a walking competition in the near future. If they stop, they’re shot. The last boy wins whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Filled with a great ensembles and cling to a concept that remains as relevant today as it was when King wrote first wrote it, there’s potential here for a low-budget arty endeavour or a costly blockbuster.
Why It Never Will Be…
Because it’s a book that, almost invariably, consists of characters walking – once they get started, they don’t stop at all. Ever. Although that could certainly work on the big screen if handled right (take a look at a movie like Buried, for example, which has a character trapped in box for runtime), I don’t know that anyone would be willing to take the risk of trying to get into bed with a movie that never stops to breathe. Frank Darabont has had the rights to this one for 7 years, but has yet to make progress, presumably stumped as to how to make it work.
1. The Dark Tower (1982-2012)
Why It Should Be A Movie…
What is often considered to be King’s magnus opus, a gargantuan work, decades in the writing, is arguably his best and most accomplished venture, and one that perhaps best emphasises the author working at the peak of his creative powers, combining elements, characters, stories, ideas and concepts from a whole host of his other novels, and making it work as a sprawling narrative in its own right.
Simply put, this is Stephen King’s most Stephen King-like endeavour, an epic fantasy series that merges his influences and plays tribute to the idea of us, his Constant Readers. It’s a series written entirely for King fans. The plot, which sounds simple at first, concerns a gunslinger whose destiny is to catch a mysterious man in black. But King uses this as starting-off point for a winding epic that unfolds dramatically over eight great books.
Why It Never Will Be…
It’s far too big. It’s too big and too inherently risky for any major studio to undertake as a project, made especially true by the fact that this is arguably only accessible in its truest form to hardcore King fans, and because it doesn’t have a young adult appeal in the same way that Harry Potter and The Hunger Games do.
Fact is, to do this properly, in the way we all want it to be done, we’re potentially talking billions and billions of dollars. There’s no point making it to TV movie standard, after all. Recently, back in May 2013, it came closer than ever to being realised by Warner Bros., who passed on at the last minute. The risk, it seems, is too high.
