Summary
- King fans enjoyed engaging movies like The Life of Chuck and The Monkey this year.
- MGM+ has The Institute series, and IT: Welcome to Derry premieres on HBO Max soon.
- Although underrated, Lisey's Story miniseries, King's favorite, is worth watching for its acting and themes.
Stephen King fans have gotten to see many engaging movies based on his work this year, and there's truly something for everyone. Audiences loved The Life of Chuck's moving tale of a man named Chuck Krantz, and Osgood Perkins took on The Monkey and made it a wild, creative, and unforgettable film that got horror fans talking. King's great work is also being turned into compelling stories for the small screen, and while fans are enjoying MGM+'s The Institute, they can also look forward to IT: Welcome to Derry premiering on HBO Max this October.
While there are even more King movies to keep an eye out for, including The Long Walk and The Running Man in September and November 2025, it's also fun to reflect back on his large body of work. Although this series didn't get as much attention as it could have, there is one adaptation of King's work that deserves a second look.
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A spinoff of IT, Welcome to Derry series has been reportedly postponed by a year, to 2026.
Stephen King Loves Lisey's Story, Which Is An Underrated AppleTV+ Miniseries With Only 53% On Rotten Tomatoes
During a 2023 Reddit Q&A (via Far Out Magazine), Stephen King was asked about his favorite novel, and he said Lisey's Story. The AppleTV+ miniseries was released in 2021 and hasn't been very popular since. It also has a lackluster Rotten Tomatoes rating of 53% with a 48% score on the Popcornmeter. However, it's worth checking out thanks to the strong acting, writing, and compelling themes.
Lisey's Story follows the main character Lisey Landon who is grieving the death of her husband Scott, who was a famous writer. It's a creepy, haunting, sad, and unforgettable tale about love, family, life, and death. The miniseries stars Julianne Moore and Clive Owen in the main roles with Michael Pitt, Joan Allen, and Jennifer Jason Leigh rounding out the cast. Similar to Mike Flanagan's movie adaptation of The Life of Chuck, which explores the various life stages of one character, Lisey's Story deals with heavy and emotional themes. It also veers into some fantasy elements, which King excels at. The story plays with the line between reality and dreams, and it's fascinating.
Lisey's Story is also special because King wrote all eight episodes of the miniseries. While other talented filmmakers and showrunners have taken on his work, and King has shared how he feels about that, it's cool when he gets the chance to do it himself. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly when the show was about to premiere, he said:
"They're all my favorites. I love them all...This is a little bit difficult to love, but I've always loved the story, and that's the reason I got involved. I held on to this one for myself because I thought at some point I would love to be involved with writing it and guiding it to completion, and to be able to do that is just a wonderful gift."
Stephen King Has Written Other Great TV And Movie Adaptations Of His Work
While he isn't as heavily involved with other TV adaptations, such as HBO Max's upcoming prequel IT: Welcome to Derry, King has written all the episodes of a few of the shows based on his work. Besides Lisey's Story, he wrote all four episodes of the 1994 The Stand miniseries.
The author has penned screenplays for several of his movie adaptations including 1989's Pet Sematary, Silver Bullet, Cat's Eye, The Dead Zone, Sleepwalkers, and Creepshow. While it's interesting to see how other artists interpret and bring his work to life, it's also cool to see the vision that King has since he's the one who crafted these creepy and compelling stories in the first place.
- Release Date
- 2021 - 2021-00-00
- Showrunner
- Stephen King
- Directors
- Pablo Larrain
- Writers
- Stephen King
Cast
-
Julianne MooreLisey Landon -
Clive OwenScott Landon -
Jennifer Jason LeighDarla Debusher -
Dane DeHaanJim Dooley
- Creator(s)
- Stephen King
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