For just about as long as almost anyone can remember, there have been plenty of movies and TV show adaptations of Stephen King novels. The author is one of the most prolific writers in history, with more than 200 short stories and over 60 novels to his name. That’s including the projects that he has written under his alias, Richard Bachman. Some of the most famous adaptations of his works include Carrie, Firestarter, Pet Sematary, Stand by Me, and The Running Man. There was also The Shining, which many consider one of the greatest horror movies ever made, yet King is famously not a fan of that version. When the 2010s rolled around, we seemed to be getting fewer of these until 2017 changed that. The year saw the release of The Dark Tower, Gerald’s Game, and 1922, along with one other film that was adapting a new take on King’s most iconic novel.
Videos by ComicBook.com
King’s IT is the novel he’s most synonymous with and people held the 1990 TV adaptation of the story in high esteem. The late, great Tim Curry was incredible as Pennywise and the new adaptation had the chance to do something even better with the tale. The end result was a box office hit that led to a bunch of other attempts at pulling off the same success.
2017’s It Had A Rocky Road to Getting Made
Although IT was released in 2017, the concept had been in the works since way back in 2009. First, David Kajganich (Bones and All) was brought in to write the film, yet struggled to get such a massive story down to a two-hour movie, though it was eventually agreed that it would be a two-part story. Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective) was attached to direct the project initially and had worked to co-write an ambitious and unconventional take. Eventually, Fukunaga dropped out, with stories coming out that the disagreements were over Fukunaga’s vision, budget issues, and more, though the reports are conflicting.
King seemed not to have high hopes for the project’s completion and said, “The remake of IT may be dead or undead, but we’ll always have Tim Curry. He’s still floating down in the sewers of Derry. In 2015, Andy Muschietti was brought on and, along with his sister Barbara, helped reshape the project. Will Poulter, who was cast as Pennywise, was also replaced by Bill Skarsgård. The movie finally went into production in 2016 and faced more challenges, from scheduling around child actor working-hours limits to some of the practical effects used, which took a lot of time and effort.
Despite all those issues, IT turned out to be a massive success. The film sits at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it grossed over $700 million at the worldwide box office. Considering the budget of under $50 million, that was a huge win for the studio. They split the dense story into two films, with the sequel, IT: Chapter Two, releasing two years later. The critical and commercial results for the sequel weren’t as good, yet were still strong. Together, they took what worked about King’s classic story and turned it into something special.
The Success Of It Led To A Ton Of Stephen King Adaptations
As is always the case, once movie studios saw just how big IT was, they tried to capitalize and replicate. It was worth a shot, though it should be noted that another Stephen King adaptation from 2017, The Dark Tower, was a flop, so there was also reason to worry. Within two years of IT, studios put out adaptations of Pet Sematary, In the Tall Grass, and even a sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep. The results were mixed, but that didn’t stop more adaptations from popping up seemingly everywhere.
Those films were followed by Firestarter, Children of the Corn, The Life of Chuck, The Monkey, Salem’s Lot, The Long Walk, The Running Man, and more. There have also been TV adaptations like The Stand, The Outsider, Castle Rock, and the upcoming Carrie. Some of those were hits, while others were totally forgettable. That has kind of always been the case with King adaptations, yet it seems like studios are still trying to find the next IT. They desperately want that next Stephen King project to become a blockbuster success, but that’s so difficult to replicate.
The success of IT is still being felt today. HBO Max has an ongoing TV series, IT: Welcome to Derry, which sees Skarsgård return to the role of Pennywise and is a prequel to the movies. The show was met with widespread acclaim and might prove that, as good as King’s stories are, IT might be in a league of its own.
You can watch IT and IT: Chapter Two on HBO Max, along with IT: Welcome to Derry to complete the franchise.
More Movies
-
Image Courtesy of Universal
