11 Stephen King stories we wanna see get a remake after Carrie
An author has to reach a pretty humongous level of critical mass to have a movie made from their works, and considering that Stephen King has inspired literally dozens of movies and TV projects, it puts the guy on a whole other level.
Heck, he’s been inspiring movies so long that some have already been rebooted—including the new Carrie hitting screens this weekend.
But what about all the other Stephen King properties that have made the transition to the big (and small) screen over the years? Don’t a few of those deserve a remake too?
Of course, we wouldn’t want to mess with all the true classics (there’s no way you could ever improve on The Shawshank Redemption, or Misery, or the sublime insanity of Pet Semetary).
But in honor of a few of those other Stephen King movies wasting away on DVD and VHS shelves, here are a few we’d love to see get another crack at widespread acclaim.
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Here are 11 Stephen King stories we wish would get a remake soon.
Riding the Bullet
This novella inspired a low budget film version in 2004, but it wasn’t great. Heck, it wasn’t even good. But the novella is a fantastic, creepy little tale about decisions, fear and death. In classic King fashion, its wrapped up in the guise of something more mundane (in this case, hitchhiking) and has a man facing the mortality of his loved ones. If done right, with a better cast and screenplay, this could be a fantastic little flick.
It
The story that made clowns scary again. The story, and the 1990 film based on it, are true horror classics. A reboot has been bouncing around development for a while, but has yet to actually get off the ground. The franchise still has a lot of name recognition, so it’s only a matter of time before this one comes back around.
The Shining
Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation is a true, beloved horror classic. But Kubrick took a few liberties with the original story along the way, and King always wanted a more faithful approach. A 1997 miniseries took a shot at it, but failed to capture the magic. It’s hard to think that anyone could match Jack Nicholson’s furious insanity, but it’d be worth it to give it a shot. If nothing else, maybe King could finally get the adaptation he wanted.
The Langoliers
If not for Stephen King’s name attached to it, there’s no way this novel would’ve ever become a TV miniseries back in 1995. But the weird, sci-fi tale of time travel did make the jump to the small screen in a good-but-not-great package. With modern effects and a tight script, this weird little story would make a great hard sci-fi addition to the King canon.
The Tommyknockers
This sci-fi novel, about a small town affected by a mysterious alien object buried in the woods, was already adapted as a miniseries back in the 1993. But, it made some major changes, so it’d be nice to get a modern retelling that is more faithful to the book, and features more of King’s interesting undertones about addiction.
The Dark Half
This story about a man trying to kill his pen name pseudonym manifested as a person already got a film version back in 1993 thanks to legendary director George Romero. That version was pretty good, but a new version of this surreal character study would be a great fit for the modern day.
The Stand
The book (or tome might be more accurate) is one of King’s masterpieces, following a huge cast in a massive end of the world tale. The only real adaptation we got was a solid TV miniseries in 1994, though a new version is currently slogging through development hell. Considering the fascination with apocalypse stories these days, its only a matter of time before King finally gets his big budget version out to the world.
The Dead Zone
Between a long-running TV series on USA and a 1983 film starring Christopher Walken, this franchise about a man who can see the future has been pretty-well tapped. But its still a great story, and the perfect fit for a modern-day film if it stayed true to the canon. The novel includes some great supernatural and political aspects, and could be a pretty solid thriller.
Running Man
Heck, this is kind of The Hunger Games a few decades before The Hunger Games. Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in a 1987 version loosely inspired by the book, and it’s a pretty hard sci-fi tale of a life-or-death game show. The post-apocalypse is hot right now, and with modern effects this one could be a lot of fun.
Children of the Corn
This was one of the best horror films ever back in the 1980s, though the franchise fell on rough times after inspiring several less-than-stellar sequels. A faithful, big budget horror take could be a hit opening around Halloween, with creepy kids to creep out a whole new generation.
The Night Flier
This short story about a reporter investigating a freaky serial killer hitting airports was a creepy little masterpiece, though the 1997 film version made some tweaks to the ending and couldn’t quite keep up the creepy vibe. With the claustrophobic airport setting, this could be a great horror flick with the right director at the helm.
