Stephen King film adaptations you must see!

Born in Portland (United States) in 1945, Stephen King is the undisputed master of suspense. Several of his literary works have already been adapted for film and television. Let's have a look at some of the best!

His first novel, 'Carrie', published in 1974, became a film in 1976. It starred Sissy Spacek in the role of a teenager with telekinetic powers.

Over time, the same story got a musical version on Broadway (1988) and a cinematic continuation in 1999 - 'The Rage: Carrie 2'. In the 2000s, there were two new adaptations: one in 2002, for TV, and another in 2013, for theaters. The latter had Chloë Grace Moretz in the lead role.

'The Shining' was King's first novel that achieved absolute success. It was not long before the work migrated to cinema theaters under the baton of Stanley Kubrick. In 1980, it became a landmark in the cinematographic universe.

However, the author did not approve of the adaptation. In an interview with P l a y b o y magazine, he said: "I’d admired Kubrick for a long time and had great expectations for the project, but I was deeply disappointed in the end result. Parts of the film are chilling, charged with a relentlessly claustrophobic terror, but others fell flat."

In 2013, King launched the continuation of his masterpiece 'Doctor Sleep'. In 2019, the book was adapted to a film with Ewan McGregor as the protagonist.

King was inspired by the case of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, known as The Killer Clown, when he wrote 'It - The Thing', one of his greatest successes.

The work had several adaptations, but the 2017 one was the most remarkable and became the most successful horror film at the box office. 'It' (2017) made more than US$ 700 million.

The film that continued King's story was released in 2019 and grossed about $473 million worldwide.

'Christine' was released the same year as the book. Critics did not receive it very well at the time. However, over the years, the film has gained a following and by now, it is a cult classic.

The short story 'Children of the Corn', published in 1978 in the magazine P e n t h o u s e, yielded several adaptations. The first was the short film 'Disciples of The Crow' in 1983.

In the following year (1984), the text was adapted for cinema, and a franchise began that yielded seven more films and a remake for TV in 2009.

'Pet Sematary' (1983) also had more than one adaptation to film. The first came out in 1989 and a second in 2019.

In the first film, the public went through a roller-coaster, but the second film divided opinions because its dark tone and slow pace turned off some viewers.

Published in 1987, the novel 'Misery' was adapted to film in 1990. Kathy Bates gave life to the scary Annie Wilkes, a role that earned her the Oscar for Best Actress.

'Gerald's Game,' a novel written in 1992, gave rise to the film of the same name on Netflix in 2017. The thriller was critically acclaimed, both for its direction by Mike Flanagan and for the performance of Carla Gugino.

Another acclaimed adaptation on Netflix was '1922' in 2017. The film was based on a short story from the collection 'Full Dark, No Stars,' released in 2010. It shows a farmer who meets a macabre fate when he confesses to the murder of his wife.

It was inspired by a story King published in the collection 'Dark Forces.' (1980). 'The Green Mile' won numerous positive reviews, but unfortunately, it was not a box office success. The story also got a series adaptation, launched in 2017.

Starring Johnny Depp and John Turturro, the film is an adaptation of the short story 'Secret Window, Secret Garden' from the collection 'Four past Midnight' in 1990. The story involves a writer who is accused of plagiarism by a stranger.

'1408' was originally based on a short story in the audiobook 'Blood and Smoke' in 1999. The plot centers on an investigator trying to unravel paranormal occurrences in room 1408 of a hotel.

The exquisite work of John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson ensured a box office success that grossed around US$132 million. For the grand finale of the film, four endings were recorded, all different from the original story by King.