While Stephen King adaptations never exactly ceased to be a thing, 2019 is set to be an especially busy period for big screen interpretations of the author’s work, starting next week with the release of Pet Sematary. What’s more, it sounds like the trend is on course to continue beyond this year.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, King explained that demand is currently very high to bring his stories to screens big and small.
“I don’t know what to make of it, really. Every day I get another contract, another option, word that somebody is making this or that. I see scripts. Let’s put it this way, I’m in a seller’s market right now. There’s a huge hunger for story, because there’s so many different platforms now. It isn’t just the movies.”
It’s certainly true that streaming platforms have expanded the means by which stories can be brought to viewers, though King also partly attributes the renewed interest in his work to a certain hit movie about a killer clown.
“But what happened to me, I guess, was that It was such a big success that people decided well, there must be gold in some of that old sh—.”
Earning a global total of over $700 million, the 2017 film currently holds the record for highest-grossing horror movie of all time, and we can assume that It: Chapter Two will do similar numbers when it drops later this year. Needless to say, studios will be keen to repeat that success.
Sure enough, King went on to claim that a few more remakes could be on the way, before suggesting that certain legal issues may also compel producers to adapt his work.
“So, a lot of the old stuff, maybe, is gonna get remade. And there’s also an issue with some of the old option deals expiring, and the studios either make them or don’t make them, and they have to hurry up. I think that was a factor in The Stand, with CBS All Access. If Warner Bros. wanted to be involved, they had to do it quick, or [the rights] were gonna be all mine again.”
From the sound of things, some new announcements might be just around the corner. But in the meantime, Pet Sematary is scheduled to hit theaters on April 5th, and the reviews suggest that Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer have a hit on their hands. Even King himself has been all praise for the movie, despite it containing at least one significant diversion from the source material.
After that, this big year for Stephen King adaptations continues with the release of It: Chapter Two on September 6th, followed by Doctor Sleep on November 8th.
