Movies
All the Stephen King Adaptations Currently in Development from ‘Carrie’ to ‘Rat’
In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes…and Stephen King adaptations.
Last year brought not one but six genre series and films based on the works of King, along with a plethora of announcements and an even busier 2026 and beyond.
Constant Readers can look forward to a second season of “The Institute” and Mike Flanagan’s “Carrie“ sometime this year, and there’s no shortage of new adaptations currently in development.
This list highlights new projects that were announced or received updates within the last 18 months, which won’t touch on previously announced titles like The Regulators, Billy Summers, Elevation, Sleeping Beauties, or Later, adaptations that haven’t received a recent update. Or adaptations that may be in limbo, like The Talisman, after recent reports.
Here are all the recently announced Stephen King adaptations currently in development:
Carrie
Carrie (1976)
Frequent King collaborator Mike Flanagan serves as showrunner and writer of an eight-episode series adaptation of Carrie for Amazon MGM Studios, giving a modern update on the classic.
The story follows misfit high-schooler Carrie White, who has spent her life in seclusion with her domineering mother. After her father’s sudden and untimely death, Carrie finds herself contending with the alien landscape of public high school, a bullying scandal that shatters her community, and the emergence of mysterious telekinetic powers.
Summer H. Howell stars as Carrie White, with Samantha Sloyan as Margaret White, Siena Agudong as Sue Snell, Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen, Josie Toah as Tina Blake, Arthur Conti as Billy Nolan, Joel Oulette as Tommy Ross, and Amber Midthunder as Rita Desjardian.
Recurring guest stars include Heather Graham, Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Katee Sackhoff, Rahul Kohli, Crystal Balint, Danielle Klaudt, Tim Bagley, Tahmoh Penikett, Mapuana Makia, Naika Toussaint, Delainey Hayles, Cassandra Naud, and Rowan Danielle.
Expect this series adaptation to arrive in 2026.
Autopsy Room Four
A feature film adaptation of the short story from King’s Six Stories in 1997 was announced in December 2024, with British director Ranjeet S. Marwa and veteran Hollywood exec Jon Levin (In the Tall Grass) attached.
Autopsy Room Four will “delve into the mind of a man who, after a life-threatening accident, wakes up to find himself trapped in an autopsy room. As he confronts his own mortality, the story navigates themes of fear, survival, and the unknown.”
Marwa will write and direct, with King giving his blessing on the project.
Cujo
Cujo (1983)
As of March last year, Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, Mother!, The Whale) was announced to be in talks to direct Stephen King’s Cujo for Netflix.
While there’s been no update since, it does seem to be a fast-track priority for the streamer.
The novel’s synopsis: “Outside a peaceful town in central Maine, a monster is waiting. Cujo is a two-hundred-pound Saint Bernard, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. One day, Cujo chases a rabbit into a cave inhabited by sick bats and emerges as something new altogether.”
Roy Lee (IT) is producing the new adaptation of Cujo for Netflix.
The Dark Tower
The second Mike Flanagan/King project on this list was first announced in 2022, when Flanagan’s Intrepid Pictures acquired the rights to The Dark Tower.
The sprawling saga that follows a gunslinger’s obsessive search for the elusive Dark Towe spans multiple novels. As such, the filmmaker previously suggested plans for a multiple season arc with potential feature films, too.
Scope is definitely a concern for Flanagan, who revealed in an update last year, “We’ve been moving it forward this whole time. It’s just, that’s how big it is. It’s constantly in the works, and you better believe as often as you guys may want to ask about it, Stephen King is asking me about it more, and I’m not gonna let him down.” With multiple projects announced since, it’s safe to say that it’ll be a while yet before we see The Dark Tower.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Lionsgate and The Long Walk scribe JT Mollner (Strange Darling are reteaming on an adaptation of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, first announced in July 2025.
The novel follows the harrowing survival story of a nine-year-old girl named Trisha as she struggles to stay alive after getting lost in the woods alone. With only her Walkman radio playing baseball games to keep her company, the girl’s love of pitcher Tom Gordon begins to manifest in hallucinations that may save her life.
Strange Darling producer Roy Lee will also reteam with Mollner for Tom Gordon.
Fairy Tale
A24 is taking on King with a 10-episode series first announced in October 2024.
Stephen King’s Fairy Tale novel is “an epic tale that follows a 17-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a terrifying world where good and evil are at war. The stakes could not be higher, for that world and ours, as he journeys into the mythic roots of human storytelling.”
J.H. Wyman (“Fringe”) will serve as the showrunner. Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, Jason Bourne), who wrote the script for the planned feature, will write with Wyman.
The Mist
The Mist (2007)
Flanagan is sticking with King for the long haul; yesterday brought the announcement that the filmmaker is writing and directing a new adaptation of King’s acclaimed novella The Mist.
The story is set in a small Maine town that is consumed by a thick, mysterious fog from which creatures emerge to attack the townsfolk. A group of survivors hole up in a local grocery store, sparking mob mentality and empowering unhinged extremists who become as dangerous as the horrors outside.
The filmmaker will also produce the feature through Red Room alongside Tyler Thompson and Spyglass’ Gary Barber and Chris Stone. Alexandra Magistro will executive produce for Red Room.
Up first from Flanagan, of course, will be Carrie and his take on The Exorcist.
Mister Yummy
Mister Yummy is the first short story to be adapted from King’s 2015 collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, announced this past November.
Set at Lakeview Assisted Living Center, the story details the last days in the life of elderly homosexual Ollie Franklin, who is certain that he will die soon due to frequent visits by a beautiful man called Mister Yummy. The haunting tale follows a man confronting mortality, where death waits around every corner.
Troy Blake wrote the screenplay. Intrinsic Value’s Aimee Schoof, Isen Robbins, and Megan Freels Johnston are producing with Thomas Mahoney.
Rat
The third adaptation from King’s If It Bleeds was announced in September of last year.
The story follows writer Drew Lawson, who is “cursed by his own ambition. Each attempt at a novel has ended in disaster—illness, misfortune, or worse. Determined to break the cycle, he retreats to a desolate cabin in the Maine woods, convinced this time will be different. But as a violent storm traps him in isolation, Drew’s body falters and his mind begins to unravel. In the grip of fever and madness, a stranger appears—an uncanny visitor who promises salvation and success…for a price Drew can barely comprehend.”
Screenwriter Jeff Howard (The Haunting of Hill House) will adapt the novella for screen; Parvulos director Isaac Ezban is set to helm.
Previous novellas Mr. Harrigan’s Phone and The Life of Chuck were also recently adapted from If It Bleeds.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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