It’s a good time to be a Stephen King fan. The Kingaissance is in full swing, and there are a ton of upcoming film and TV projects to get you giddy — or to make you double check what’s under your bed. While King might have written Insomnia, and hyperalertness due to his scary stories might be a cause of insomnia, when it comes to making sure King’s works are done right, fans only want long days and pleasant nights.
IT Chapter 2
For fans of 2017’s smash horror film IT, the sequel film (and story conclusion) can’t get here fast enough. The good news is, the grown up version of the Loser’s Club has been assembled, and the cast looks out of this universe (if you catch my drift). Playing the king of the losers, Big Bill, is James McAvoy. Jessica Chastain has always been the lead pick for Bev, which makes her casting fan-approved. Bill Hader is taking on Trashmouth Richie Tozier, and Isaiah Mustafa — aka the Old Spice guy — is Mike Hanlon. Rounding out the cast is Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom, James Ransone as hypochondriac Eddie and Andy Bean as Stan. Bill Skarsgard will, of course, be back as Pennywise. Chapter 2 is still in pre-production and due out in 2019.
The first movie was super scary, so if you’re faint of heart you might want to bring the smelling salts and brush up on your CPR techniques. After all, scary movies have killed before.
Beep beep, Richie.
Castle Rock
For the uninitiated, Castle Rock is a town in Maine where truly terrible things happen. It’s a favorite location of King’s, appearing in Cujo, The Dark Half, and Needful Things. It’s also a new miniseries premiering on Hulu with a tantalizingly close release date of July 25th. The show is affiliated with the King lore, though information is coming out at a slow trickle, so just how affiliated is anyone’s guess. It does feature familiar characters (and familiar actors). Sheriff Alan Pangborn, who featured prominently in Needful Things and The Dark Half, is played by Scott Glen (Stick in Netflix’s Daredevil). Cast members returning to the world of King include Sissy Spacek (Carrie), Melanie Lynsky (Rose Red), Bill Skarsgard (IT), Chosen Jacobs (IT), and Terry O’Quinn (Silver Bullet). Look for the show to be filled with all kinds of references and callbacks to King’s work, including Shawshank penitentiary (which looks to be a pivotal location).
Pet Sematary
Cover your achilles tendons, folks, Pet Sematary is coming back to theaters. Cast members include John Lithgow as Jud Crandall, Jason Clarke (Mudbound), and Amy Seimetz (who genre fans might recognize best as Eleven’s biological aunt in Stranger Things). No word on who might play tiny, stabby Gage or zombie life coach Victor Pascow. It’s in production now, and slated to give you and your zombie cat-loving friends a good scare April 5th, 2019.
Doctor Sleep
Doctor Sleep is a fascinating book for a couple of reasons. First, it is the sequel to the hugely popular novel The Shining (whose film adaptation has a cult following, conspiracy theories, and a documentary about said conspiracy theories called Room 237), which follows gifted Danny Torrance as a very broken adult. Second, Doctor Sleep is one of the first King books to incorporate the world (and villains) from books by his son, Joe Hill. For King and Hill fans, the book is a feast of references and the kind of interconnectedness that makes Dark Tower fans get obsessive. So far only one character has been cast, but that casting is just oh-so-good: Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance himself. It’s in pre-production now, so don’t expect to see Doctor Sleep until 2020.
Dark Tower
No, I’m not talking about that malformed abomination starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Amazon, which is also undertaking hugely intricate and easily screw-up-able franchises like the Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings, is working on the series. The original plan included incorporating last summer’s dumpster fire of a film that thumbed its nose at King fans (or anyone who likes film adaptations to bear more than a passing resemblance to the books they’re based on). At one point the Dark Tower series was meant to build off of the movie; now, if Amazon has any sense, it’s probably hoping no one remembers that phase like most people hope no one remembers the time they sneeze-farted in front of their crush. While details are non-existent, Amazon did acknowledge the series is still alive and in the works. Whichever direction Amazon chooses to go, Dark Tower fans can only hope it doesn’t forget the face of its father.