People remaking Stephen King movies is about as common as, well, people making Stephen King movies in the first place. For every new adaptation of a King story we see out there, there’s at least one or two new spins on something that’s already happened. For every The Life of Chuck, there’s a new Firestarter or Carrie. For every The Long Walk, there’s a new Salem’s Lot or Pet Sematary.
Of course, there are also many Stephen King adaptations that have not yet been remade. Some shouldn’t. Classics like The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, or Misery come to mind. Others have, and we still can’t believe it. That we’ve seen multiple versions of The Shining or The Stand, for example, is still sort of mindboggling. (And yes, we’re looping in a few long-form TV adaptations in here too.)
But then, there’s another category. The remakes that could, or should, happen. This week, one of those hits theaters. Edgar Wright’s The Running Man is a wholly new take on the original King novel, one that is much more faithful than the cult classic 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film. So, are there others like that? We think so. Here are six other King films we’d love to see remade.
Maximum Overdrive
We know. There are many, many fans out there of this King-directed 1986 film starring Emilio Estevez. It’s kind of fun. It’s weird. It’s campy. But there’s also a version of this story—about technology becoming sentient and violent—that could be a completely different movie. Maybe not a better movie, but a unique and more interesting movie. (In fact, there was a TV remake of this already in 1997, but, to be honest, we haven’t seen it.)
Thinner
This 1996 film, directed by Tom Holland (not that one), is generally considered to be crappy. And yet, the story feels ripe for a fresh take. It’s about an obese lawyer who is cursed to lose weight, and in a world where weight loss drugs are becoming increasingly popular, don’t you think there’s a more authoritative and timely version that could be made?
The Mangler
Another killer machine movie, and in a world where we are increasingly beholden to technology, wouldn’t it hit differently now? Yes, legendary director Tobe Hooper made the 1995 version starring two icons in Robert Englund and Ted Levine, but even with that level of talent, it’s just not that great. Let’s make a great movie about a killer industrial laundry machine.
Dreamcatcher
If today, in 2025, you announced that Lawrence Kasdan was making a Stephen King film starring Timothy Olyphant, Thomas Jane, Morgan Freeman, Donnie Wahlberg, and Tom Sizemore, you’d probably be like, “How is that possible? Tom Sizemore is dead.” All jokes aside, though, the point is that’s a hell of a lineup. And yet this story about four friends that share a psychic ability, involving aliens more, was such a miss that we’d love to see someone else take a crack at it.
The Langoliers
This is sort of a cheat because it’s one of those made-for-TV adaptations, but that didn’t stop It from becoming a good movie, right? And The Langoliers, which is sort of like a Stephen King horror version of Lost, feels like there is potentially something there if handled correctly. Maybe taking its elements and really honing them in, instead of spreading them out, could be exciting.
The Dark Tower
Making The Dark Tower into a single movie was never a good idea. Even with Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba in the leads, it’s simply too epic a story to be told in one movie, even if you cut and paste things around. This one, we know, is already potentially being made by Stephen King whisperer Mike Flanagan, but it’s such a gargantuan task, we figured we’d put it on this list simply to put the good mojo out there.
Are there any other Stephen King movies you think should be remade? What about ones you think should never be remade? Feel free to discuss it all below.
And, if you are a King fan, definitely check out The Life of Chuck and The Long Walk, which both came out recently (and weren’t remakes), as well as The Running Man, in theaters now.
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