7 Best Stephen King Movie Adaptations

When I was a kid, I remember rainy afternoons, going to the Exton library with my family, and disappearing into the stacks. There, amongst the quiet, you could sneak any book off the shelf and read to your heart’s content.

Most of the time, I’d try to read something I knew my parents would be iffy about letting me check out, so I frequented the Stephen King section quite often.

There, you could travel into lots of different worlds and explore every single one of your dreams and nightmares.

King is one of the best-selling authors of all time, so many of his books have been adapted into film and TV.

Today, I wanted to list my favorite Stephen King movie adaptations for you to check out.

Let’s dive in.

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1. The Shawshank Redemption

Director and Writer: Frank Darabont

Cast: Tim Robbins (Andy Dufresne) Morgan Freeman (Ellis “Red” Redding)

Absolutely one of the greatest movies of all time, the emotional ride of seeing this film for the first time is almost incomparable. All based on a King novella.

2. The Shining

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Writers: Stanley Kubrick, Diane Johnson

Cast: Jack Nicholson (Jack Torrance), Shelley Duvall (Wendy Torrance), Danny Lloyd (Danny Torrance)

Famously an adaptation that King doesn’t love, I still think this could be the greatest horror movie of all time. It has insanely great performances from Duvall and Nicholson, complete with Kubrick’s exacting direction.

3. Stand By Me

Director: Rob Reiner

Writer: Raynold Gideon, Bruce A. Evans

Cast: Wil Wheaton (Gordie Lachance), River Phoenix (Chris Chambers), Corey Feldman (Teddy Duchamp), Jerry O’Connell (Vern Tessio)

The last lines of this movie could make me cry if I thought about them for long enough. A stunning tribute to childhood friendship, imagination, and mortality. Another one adapted from a novella.

4. Misery

Director: Rob Reiner

Writer: William Goldman

Cast: Kathy Bates (Annie Wilkes), James Caan (Paul Sheldon)

Rob Reiner just seems to understand King. His work on Misery is visceral. It is creepy, fun, terrifying, and frustrating, This is one exciting ride!

5. Carrie

Director: Brian De Palma

Writer: Lawrence D. Cohen

Cast: Sissy Spacek (Carrie White), Piper Laurie (Margaret White)

De Palma is one of those guys who was made to direct splattery movies with salacious social commentary. Carrie is a scary King story that works so well as a coming-of-age tragedy.

6. The Green Mile

Director and Writer: Frank Darabont

Cast: Tom Hanks (Paul Edgecomb), Michael Clarke Duncan (John Coffey)

This is a movie I often forget is based on a Stephen King story. It really tugs at your heartstrings while horrifying you at mankind’s racism and inhumanity. Frank Darabont is on this list twice because he also seems to viscerally understand King’s ethos.

7. It

Director: Andrés Muschietti

Writers: Chase Palmer, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Gary Dauberman

Cast: Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise), Jaeden Martell (Bill Denbrough), Sophia Lillis (Beverly Marsh)

This is easily one of the longest books I’ve read, and it was pretty messed up. When it came time to bring it to the big screen, I think it works best in these two parts, although shoutout to the Tim Curry version, which I saw way too young. Muschietti has fun with this film that makes nightmares real.

Summing Up The Best Stephen King Films 

The prolific author, screenwriter, and director has touched many decades of filmmaking, so even though these are my favorite Stephen King movies, I bet you have a very different list than I came up with.

Share yours in the comments!