From 1970s to 2020s: 6 Most Iconic Stephen King Adaptations, Picked By the Author Himself
Over the decades, there have been dozens of Stephen King adaptations: some awful, and some genius. Here are the author’s favorites — from the 70s to today!
The 70s: Carrie (1976)
Carrie was Stephen King ’s first novel and movie adaptation, too. Even though years later, the author finds it quite dated, he’s always had a soft spot for his oldest movie.
“I liked De Palma’s film of Carrie quite a bit. The attitude of the film was different from my book, <...> [but] I don’t have any real quibbles. I think that De Palma is a worthy pretender to Hitchcock’s throne… Certainly, he is as peculiar,” said King.
The 80s: Stand by Me (1986)
Shown to the author in a private screening, Stand by Me won Stephen King’s heart over immediately, and he warmly praised the movie to its director, Rob Reiner.
"That's the best film ever made out of anything I've written, which isn't saying much. But you've really captured my story. It is autobiographical. All that was made up was the device of the hunt for the body," were King’s words, according to director Reiner.
The 90s: The Green Mile (1999)
The Green Mile is a cultural phenomenon and movie loved by millions of fans all over the world, and the original novel’s author is no different — King was impressed.
“I was delighted with The Green Mile. <...> For a story that is set on death row, it has a really feel-good, praise-the-human condition sentiment to it. I certainly don’t have a problem with that because I am a sentimentalist at heart,” shared Stephen King.
The 00s: The Mist (2007)
The fact that director Frank Darabont changed the finale of the story amazed King and made him the biggest fan of The Mist immediately which he was vocal about.
"Frank wrote a new ending that I loved. It is the most shocking ending ever and there should be a law passed stating that anybody who reveals the last five minutes of this film should be hung from their neck until deaфd," laughed the author.
The 10s: IT (2017)
Even though he really liked the first adaptation of IT that happened way back in 1990, Stephen King was totally lost for words after watching the new version.
“I had hopes, but I was not prepared for how good it really was. <...> I went back and saw it a second time, and I felt I was seeing things the second time through that I missed the first time,” King shared with excitement.
The 20s: Chapelwaite (2021)
Despite the differences between Chapelwaite and his original short story called Jerusalem’s Lot, Stephen King found nothing but praise for his latest small-screen adaptation and went vocal about it on his Twitter.
“Chapelwaite is very, very good. Balls-to-the-wall gothic horror. All thriller, no filler,” wrote the author after watching the series himself.