With the release of the film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk, one of his earliest stories, written back in the late 60’s about a dystopian future where children are pitted against each other in a competition to see who can be the last boy walking. I looked at my bookshelf to see what other books of King’s have not made it to the big screen yet and deserve a chance to wonder and terrify us the way other film versions of his books have done for decades.
Later (2021)- This story is about a boy who sees dead people. But that is where The Sixth Sense similarities end, as we catch up to teen Jamie Conklin who is dealing with his mom’s ex, a NYPD officer who decides to utilize Jamie’s special ability to solve crimes. This is a great coming of age story wrapped in a ghost story that plays out like a detective drama. It’s got scares, gore, and a cool period aesthetic that would really lend itself to film. The story is under 300 pages, so relatively short for a King book, it has a good hook and doesn’t let you go til the thrilling conclusion. It’s all on the page, just waiting to be adapted.
11/22/63 (2011)- One of the legendary “What if’s” of all time is explored here. What if you could stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy? A lonely high school teacher in Maine is shown by a local diner owner a “time slip” in his pantry that always leads to the same time in 1958. Our hero Jake Epping decides to take the challenge and give up years of his life to change a world event. Though this was made into a limited series in 2016, I think it would fare better as a film. There are several choices that could be made to tighten up the story, a creepy side quest to establish the rules cinematically, then skip ahead to the love story that develops just as his time is up. This is without a doubt my favorite King novel and I would love to see another version of it on the big screen.
Revival (2014)- When a local minister makes a huge impact on a young boy’s life they remain connected as they continue to meet throughout the rest of their lives in this very non-scary story. King just following the journey of a man from youth to adulthood with some of the triumphs and tragedies he has experienced himself, reveals so much of how we view life and religion. There is some spooky elements peppered in the story, but has probably the most horrifically, terrifying endings I have ever read. I just can’t remember the last time I was that scared of just reading words on a page. It truly is a magic trick that a talented director could do a lot with. There is a Mike Flanagan script out there, but he has gone on the record that Warner Bros. was not going forward with it which is a true shame when you see what Flanagan has done with several of King’s properties already. This is also just another opportunity to tell anyone reading this: go watch The Life of Chuck, it is simply one the best King adaptations of all time.
Eyes of the Dragon (1984)- Adapting this, King’s first foray into the world of Fantasy may still need some more years removed from Game of Thrones. Involving different versions of characters that would populate his Dark Tower series this is a relatively straight story of Kings, Queens, wizards, sons, betrayal and palace intrigue. There have been a couple of attempts to make a series of this. However a shorter, much more solid version on film would put this up there with other memorable adaptations if placed in the proper hands, and filled with an epic cast to hold it all together.
The Regulators (1996)- This novel is so bat-shit insane, I would just love to see someone try to tackle it. When several different color vans appear in an Ohio neighborhood and someone inside starts to shoot the local residents, they barricade themselves in and quickly discover that they are mysteriously cut off from the outside world. And then it gets crazier from there. While it feels kind of all over the place, like his not so great book and even worse movie adaptation Dreamcatcher, if this one is established as other-worldy early enough, it could work. And mostly I just want to see the visuals of the ending play out and see which filmmakers are brave enough to hold to the wacky nature of this not-so-classic, but certainly a bold choice of a story.
