What Was The Best Year Ever For Stephen King Movies And TV? 2025 Is Already Top 3 But Not Number One

by

For the past nine months, I’ve often mentioned how great 2025 will be for Stephen King fans. Not only are two new books coming out, but there will be six film and TV adaptations of his work – covering a wide variety of stories and styles, and really showing off how diverse his writing is. However, even with so many adaptations coming out, I started to wonder if 2025 will actually be the *best* year ever for Stephen King on screen. That got me thinking: what *is* the best year for Stephen King movies and TV?

This week’s issue of The King Beat focuses on answering a big question about Stephen King’s work. You might have already read our initial thoughts on *Black Phone 2* (which premiered at Fantastic Fest) or heard that the novella *Rat* is being developed into a full-length movie, but there’s always more to discuss when it comes to King’s stories! Let’s get right to it.

Highlighting The Five Single Best Years Ever For Stephen King Movies And TV

It’s hard to overstate how consistently Stephen King’s work has been adapted for film and television over the past half-century. Since 1976, there have been only nine years without a new King movie or TV season, and it’s often been far more than one adaptation per year. In fact, over the last 49 years, 30 have seen multiple King stories released in theaters, on TV, or through streaming services. I’ve focused on those years to determine the best years for Stephen King adaptations and original productions.

While some years had just okay releases – 1991, for example, brought us the “Moving Finger” episode of *Monsters*, the TV movie *Sometimes They Come Back*, and the short-lived series *Golden Years* – and others were a bit uneven (like 1993 with *The Dark Half*, *Needful Things*, and the *The Tommyknockers* miniseries), some years really stood out. Here’s my Top 5 from those exceptional years:

5. 2004

2004 stands out from the other years I’ll be discussing because it doesn’t have one truly exceptional horror film. To be honest, Mick Garris’ *Riding the Bullet* is quite bad. I’m also not a big fan of David Koepp’s *Secret Window*, but it’s not awful, and I do enjoy the two television movies that came out that year.

While TNT’s miniseries of *Salem’s Lot* isn’t as celebrated as the 1979 film, I admire its dark take on the story and the strong cast. More importantly, 2004 gave us *Kingdom Hospital*, a wonderfully strange and unsettling show. This series uniquely allowed Stephen King to explore his own near-fatal accident from 1999 by incorporating it into the plot.

4. 2019

The success of Andy Muschietti’s *IT: Chapter One* renewed Hollywood’s interest in Stephen King adaptations, leading to a wave of new projects in 2019. While *IT: Chapter Two* didn’t quite live up to expectations – the story with the adult characters wasn’t as strong as the one featuring the kids – and the remake of *Pet Sematary* didn’t measure up to the 1989 original, three other films helped make 2019 a successful year for Stephen King adaptations overall.

While Vincenzo Natali’s *In The Tall Grass* is a hidden gem from the Stephen King streaming adaptations, and Shudder’s *Creepshow* series began strongly with a fun, well-acted version of “Gray Matter,” 2019 truly stands out because of Mike Flanagan’s *Doctor Sleep*. Many consider it a near-perfect film adaptation.

3. 2017

Let me share how I created this ranking. I originally placed 2017 in second, but I remembered how much I disliked Nikolaj Arcel’s *The Dark Tower*. Combined with the underwhelming *Mist* TV series, it didn’t feel right. It’s too bad, because everything else Stephen King released that year is truly exceptional and could be considered among the best ever.

While *IT: Chapter One* has a problematic title, 2017 also gave us some fantastic horror content. Netflix released two great films: Mike Flanagan’s *Gerald’s Game* and Zak Hilditch’s *1922*. Plus, Audience premiered the first season of *Mr. Mercedes*, which deserves more recognition.

2. 2025

Currently, 2025 stands out from other years because none of the adaptations released so far are truly *bad*. While the MGM+ series *The Institute* is the weakest, it’s just mediocre, unlike failures like *The Dark Tower* or *Riding The Bullet*. Everything else released is a strong contender for the list of the greatest Stephen King movies of all time.

Osgood Perkins’ *The Monkey*, Mike Flanagan’s *The Life of Chuck*, and Francis Lawrence’s *The Long Walk* are all very different movies, but they’re all excellent. If the upcoming HBO Max series *IT: Welcome to Derry* and Edgar Wright’s *The Running Man* are also outstanding, they could potentially move higher up in this list.

1. 1983

1983 was a breakout year for Stephen King. Still early in his career as a published author, he quickly became famous thanks to a remarkable series of releases. Within a single year, not only did his novels *Pet Sematary* and *Christine* hit bookstores, but film adaptations of *Christine* by John Carpenter, Lewis Teague’s *Cujo*, and David Cronenberg’s *The Dead Zone* all came out in theaters. This rapid exposure cemented his status as a pop culture icon.

These three films were all released between August and December, and each one is a fantastic adaptation of the book it’s based on. While *Cujo* isn’t quite as strong as the others, it’s still a remarkably well-made and daring movie.

Look, as a film fanatic, I’m always revising my ‘best of’ lists, but right now, it’s seriously tough to top the movies that came out in 1983. That year just delivered a killer combination of films, and it’s hard to see anything knocking them off their perch anytime soon.

The Brand New Trailer For IT: Welcome To Derry Makes Me Wonder How Much Of Pennywise’s Origin We May See In The HBO Max Show

With Francis Lawrence’s film, *The Long Walk*, now in theaters, the next Stephen King adaptation heading our way is *IT: Welcome To Derry* – and it’s arriving very soon. The show will premiere on HBO Max on October 26th, which is just one month away as of this Friday. A new trailer has just been released, and it raises an interesting question: how much of Pennywise’s backstory will the eight-episode series reveal?

If you watched the trailer, you probably noticed a strange moment (it’s not just a normal conversation between characters). Around 1 minute and 42 seconds in, you see a quiet night scene broken by a fiery comet crashing to earth, leaving a trail of smoke. This scene feels out of place with the rest of the trailer, but it’s actually based on a part of Stephen King’s book that happens much earlier than the main story, before 1962.

In the story of *IT*, the monster Pennywise originally came from a vast, empty place called the Macroverse. He landed on Earth, in what would eventually become Derry, Maine, long before America was settled. Recent previews of the new show hint that it will show Pennywise’s arrival, and it makes you wonder if an entire episode might be devoted to explaining his mysterious origins.

Since the book already includes chapters from IT’s point of view, the show exploring this perspective wouldn’t deviate from the story’s established style. More importantly, it would allow viewers to finally see the complex connection between IT and Maturin the Turtle, a detail long desired by dedicated fans. While a bold move, it would be a truly rewarding addition for longtime readers.

We’ll be sharing a lot more about *IT: Welcome to Derry* in the weeks ahead. Expect plenty of articles and updates on our site before, during, and after the first season premieres on HBO Max.

That’s all for this week’s King Beat! But don’t worry, a new one will be here in just seven days – they come out every Thursday on TopMob. In the meantime, you can explore the history of Stephen King’s work in film and TV with my series, Adapting Stephen King.

Read More

2025-09-25 21:10