The Next Month Is Going To Be Amazing for Stephen King Fans (To Complete One of His Best Years Ever)

Stephen King has had one of the best years of his career, and fans of the King of Horror have received a plethora of riches in 2025. That run hasn’t ended yet, with even more King content coming over the next month. Already this year, King released his latest crime novel, Never Flinch, which brings King’s beloved Holly Gibney back into the spotlight. We also got the release of the fun horror movie The Monkey in February, The Life of Chuck in June, and The Long Walk in September. All three movies remain highly praised, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 77%, 81%, and 88% respectively. The Institute also arrived as a streaming series on MGM+ in July.

The best news is that the year isn’t over yet, and two more big releases are on the way for Stephen King fans. Here is a look at what we still have to look forward to from the King of Horror in 2025:

The Running Man & It: Welcome to Derry Will Wrap Up 2025 for Stephen King Content

After a great start to the year with releases of a fun horror movie (The Monkey), a critically acclaimed masterpiece (The Life of Chuck), and one of the most anticipated adaptations for many King fans (The Long Walk), there is still another movie coming to theaters inspired by Stephen King’s work. On November 14, Edgar Wright brings The Running Man to theaters. Like The Long Walk, the film is based on one of King’s books written under the pseudonym “Richard Bachman”.

King used the Bachman pseudonym to write something outside the horror genre, after finding himself typecast as a writer of horror. There were two movies based on these Bachman novels, including the original The Running Man (1987) with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role. Now, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) gets to bring that story back to the big screen, and King fans hope it will be more loyal to the source novel than the original movie.

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While not as exciting, fans of It have a new version of that story to look forward to, starting on October 26th with HBO’s Welcome to Derry. The prequel series tells the story of the last time Pennywise the Clown struck in the town of Derry, in 1962. The story follows a young couple who move to Derry and watch in horror as their young child disappears. King fans can also expect many Easter eggs from the writer’s universe of stories, including Chris Chalk playing Dick Hallorann, the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the Clown, after playing the role in the previous It movies.

What Can Fans Expect from the Upcoming Stephen King Releases?

The most exciting pick of the upcoming King projects is The Running Man. While the original Arnold Schwarzenegger movie is a cult classic, it is barely comparable to the original story. However, one thing that Edgar Wright has always shown is a respect for the genres and movies that he works in. His Shaun of the Dead was so respectful that George Romero praised it and invited Wright and actor Simon Pegg to appear in one of his zombie movies. There’s good reason to believe that Wright has every intention of bringing the Stephen King story to the big screen as it was meant to be.

The Running Man has a top-notch cast: Glen Powell stars in the role that Arnold Schwarzenegger originally took on, and that fits a lot better with the regular guy from the original novel who had to overcome all odds. Josh Broilin stars as the man behind the games, and Oscar-nominated Colman Domingo is in the role of the reality game show host that Richard Dawson played in the original movie. Add Wright’s signature filmmaking skills, and this might end up even better than the great King adaptations that already came out in 2025.

As for It – Welcome to Derry, this is an interesting experiment for Stephen King fans. Like 2021’s Chapelwaite, which looked at Salem’s Lot in a brand-new story, and Castle Rock, which looked at King’s most popular fictional town, Welcome to Derry will tell a previously untold story in the world of It. The series has eight episodes, kicking off on October 26 and airing weekly until December 14. With Bill Skarsgård’s appearance as Pennywise tying it to the movies from director Andy Muschietti, expect this to help finish 2025 as one of the best years ever for Stephen King fans.

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