Stephen King’s Favourite Stephen King Adaptations (And What He Said About Them)
Stephen King is a prolific author who has crafted some of the greatest stories of all time, so it’s only natural that his work has been adapted time and time again. But which ones get his seal of approval?
Not a year goes by these days without a King adaptation. In 2026, we’ve had the Carrie TV show from Mike Flanagan, and he will once again try his hand at reworking a King story next year with his version of The Mist.
Over the years, King has written 67 novels and over 200 short stories, while there have been approximately 80 official adaptations for the big and small screen. Some of them are amazing, some are poor imitations, but only a select few earned praise from the man himself.
Here, we take a look at eight movies King liked and what he said about them – plus a special mention for one adaptation he famously wasn’t happy with.
Despite initial doubts as to whether his dialogue-heavy novella would translate to the silver screen, The Shawshank Redemption is actually one of King’s favourite adaptations of his own writing. Speaking to The Academy about the film, he said: “When I first saw it, I realized he'd made not just one of the best movies ever done from my work, but a potential movie classic.”
To be fair, we’d have to question King’s judgement if he wasn’t a fan of this film. Shawshank is, quite literally, one of the greatest movies of all time. From the stirring, at times inspiring, and at others depressing story, to the incredibly authentic and engaging characters (largely thanks to the performances of Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman), there’s absolutely nothing to find fault with in this picture.
One of King’s more visceral reactions to any of the adaptations of his work is Stand By Me, with the Rob Reiner movie causing the author to cry after watching the film and give the director a hug. King told the New York Times that the “dramatic parts hit me where I lived” and citing it as one of his favourite adaptations.
It probably helps that King regards the story of Stand By Me as an almost autobiographical account of his childhood in Maine; a story which the young cast bring to life with so much heart and endearing playfulness, while also handling the emotional moments like seasoned pros.
King is clearly a fan of Frank Darabont’s approach to adapting his work – all three of his attempts make it onto this list. Whether it’s faithfully sticking to the source material or, in the case of The Mist, switching things up a little bit, King admires Darabont’s directorial efforts, and he praised the way the filmmaker added an extra, very harrowing scene to the end of this story.
If you’re yet to see The Mist, I won’t spoil what the ending is, but just know that even the dark mind of King didn’t conjure up anything this bleak – the author even admitted he wished he had written his original tale that way. Still, it’s a thrilling horror flick, with great character work and a sense of foreboding which offers a clever rework of King’s short story.
Sometimes, even just a single performance can be enough to win King over, and Kathy Bates’ menacing turn in Misery certainly did that. Speaking to the New York Times, King said: “The combination of James Caan and Kathy Bates was magic, and it had a touch of humor that was missing from my book.”
This story of a wildly obsessive fan getting to spend some questionable quality time with her favourite author is a classic of the single-location thriller subgenre, with director Rob Reiner balancing dark humour with genuine macabre moments perfectly. Interestingly, King was so enamoured with Reiner after Stand By Me that he handpicked the director for this project, selling him the rights to Misery for just a single dollar.
When King published his 1981 novel Cujo, he received hate mail for the very bleak ending which saw the young boy, Tad, killed off. The author was hugely relieved, then, when the film adaptation two years later opted to switch things up and let the boy live – we can thank actress Dee Wallace for that smart move.
While Cujo is not necessarily the best King adaptation, it does serve its purpose very effectively. It’s thrilling and unsettling, it’s got an emotional core, and at just over 90 minutes long, it’s a great quasi-horror movie that’ll never run the risk of overwhelming any scaredy cats (or dogs) in the room.
King struck gold at the first time of asking, with his debut novel Carrie becoming a stone cold classic. Just two years later, it was adapted into a movie by Brian De Palma, and King was a big fan. Discussing Carrie (via Screen Rant), he insisted the movie was far better than his novel and that it captured the dark, tragic tone of the story impeccably.
King was also in awe of the casting of Sissy Spacek as the titular teen and Piper Laurie as her mother, and he’s right to praise them. Without that unhinged, unpredictable dynamic the two actors portray so well, the film would collapse. Instead, thanks to their iconic performances, Carrie became an instant horror classic.
Frank Darabont never missed when it came to adapting King’s novels, and The Green Mile was praised by the author for the way the film stayed true to the spirit and tone of the original story, while he was also impressed that the director managed to convert his dense novel into a single film. King also loved the cast, particularly the performance of Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey.
Combining supernatural elements with pure sentimentality, this ‘90s classic is one of the few movies that has ever made me cry – what’s more, it gets me every single time, even though I know what’s coming. For my money, it’s one of the greatest films (and stories) of all time.
For all the adaptations of his work that King loves, there are plenty he’s not too happy with. Most famously, King blasted Stanley Kubrick’s take on The Shining, telling Deadline that Kubrick and co. strayed too far from the source material. He said: “In the book, he’s a guy who’s struggling with his sanity and finally loses it. To me, that’s a tragedy. In the movie, there’s no tragedy because there’s no real change.” He also claimed the 1980 classic had no heart and was too hostile towards its viewers.
However, he had no such problems with Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of his follow-up to The Shining, Doctor Sleep. In fact, King believed the 2019 flick “redeemed” The Shining and said Flanagan delivered one “hell of a good movie” and also one “hell of a scary one”. Personally, The Shining still reigns supreme for me, but the intensity and relentless sense of dread generated by Doctor Sleep make it one of the best legacy sequels around, and one of the best horrors of the last decade.
