It’s fair to say that any new Stephen King story has a good chance of being optioned for a film or television adaptation, with a large number of projects on the way. And the latest developments see three of the novellas from King’s most recent book, If It Bleeds, getting picked up. The creative talent behind these adaptations is unusually impressive, too, with Ben Stiller, Darren Aronofsky and Ryan Murphy taking on the King-authored material.
First up, Stiller is planning to adapt the most straightforwardly horrific of the tales in If It Bleeds, where an author rediscovers his inspiration after what may or may not be a hallucination of a rat. The story’s clearly had a big impact on Stiller, too, who plans to write, direct and star in Rat. But whether this will be as a theatrical feature or one made directly for King favorites like Netflix or Hulu is another question, given that the original story is fairly short.
Aronofsky, meanwhile, is taking on The Life of Chuck, which sees the life of a man take on different dimensions in a story that’s best enjoyed spoiler-free. The director’s most recent film was 2017’s Mother!, although he’s been busy working as a producer.
Finally, Ryan Murphy’s long-term deal with Netflix will include Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, another throwback to King’s scarier short work. The American Horror Story head honcho will produce with Blumhouse, while John Lee Hancock will direct.
For anyone wondering why the longest story in If It Bleeds hasn’t been included in this list, the reason may be that it’s going to form the basis for season 2 of HBO’s The Outsider. Beyond these projects, there are plenty of other Stephen King adaptations coming soon (or soonish) as well, including Mike Flanagan‘s Revival, a Lisey’s Story miniseries and new versions of ‘Salem’s Lot and The Stand, to name a few.
