Adaptations of Stephen King Books and Stories
Finally, an answer to the age-old question: how many Stephen King movies are god-awful? And WHY? I can't answer the latter, but if we assume that god-awful means <7 on IMDB, all but 20 are probably not worth watching. There might be a few exceptions: based on their RT score, people seem to enjoy watching movies like 1922, Firestarter, and 1408 even though they're not actually very good.
That said, only 6 adaptations on this list are above an 8 and probably qualify as must-see movies, which is indeed a pretty bad percentage when you consider that there are more than 60 listed on this page. You can go ahead and sort by any of the columns below to learn other interesting trends.
65
Total Adaptations
6 (9%)
Great (8.0+)
14 (22%)
Decent (7.0-7.9)
45 (69%)
God-Awful (<7.0)
65 adaptations found
Original Work | Adaptation Title | Type | Year | IMDB | RT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Running Man | The Running Man | Movie | 2025 | 6.8 | 65% |
| It | IT: Welcome to Derry | TV Series | 2025 | 7.8 | 78% |
| The Long Walk | The Long Walk | Movie | 2025 | 6.8 | 88% |
| Skeleton Crew | The Monkey | Movie | 2025 | 5.9 | 62% |
| If It Bleeds | The Life of Chuck | Movie | 2025 | 7.3 | 82% |
| 'Salem's Lot | Salem's Lot | Movie | 2024 | 6.0 | 41% |
| Night Shift | The Boogeyman | Movie | 2023 | 6.1 | 61% |
| Firestarter | Firestarter | Movie | 2022 | 4.6 | 10% |
| If It Bleeds | Mr. Harrigan’s Phone | Movie | 2022 | 5.8 | 46% |
| Doctor Sleep | Doctor Sleep* | Movie | 2019 | 7.3 | 78% |
| It | It Chapter Two | Movie | 2019 | 6.5 | 62% |
| Pet Sematary | Pet Sematary | Movie | 2019 | 5.7 | 57% |
| Full Dark, No Stars | 1922 | Movie | 2017 | 6.6 | 92% |
| The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger | The Dark Tower | Movie | 2017 | 6.0 | 16% |
| Gerald's Game | Gerald’s Game* | Movie | 2017 | 7.2 | 89% |
| It | It Part 1: The Loser’s Club* | Movie | 2017 | 7.9 | 84% |
| Skeleton Crew | The Mist | TV Series | 2017 | 5.3 | 62% |
| Mr. Mercedes | Mr. Mercedes | TV Series | 2017 | 8.2 | 85% |
| Cell | Cell | Movie | 2016 | 4.3 | 11% |
| 11/22/63 | 11.22.63 | TV Series | 2016 | 8.2 | 80% |
| Skeleton Crew | Mercy | Movie | 2014 | 5.1 | 23% |
| Full Dark, No Stars | A Good Marriage | Movie | 2014 | 5.1 | 37% |
| Full Dark, No Stars | Big Driver | TV Movie | 2014 | 5.6 | 50% |
| Under the Dome | Under the Dome | TV Series | 2013 | 7.0 | 81% |
| Bag of Bones | Bag of Bones | Movie | 2011 | 5.8 | N/A |
| The Colorado Kid | Haven | TV Series | 2010 | 7.6 | 40% |
| Skeleton Crew | The Mist | Movie | 2007 | 7.2 | 73% |
| Everything's Eventual | 1408 | Movie | 2007 | 6.8 | 78% |
| Desperation | Desperation | Movie | 2006 | 5.3 | 33% |
| 'Salem's Lot | Salem’s Lot | Movie | 2004 | 6.3 | 49% |
| Everything's Eventual | Riding the Bullet | Movie | 2004 | 5.2 | 27% |
| Four Past Midnight | Secret Window | Movie | 2004 | 6.6 | 46% |
| Dreamcatcher | Dreamcatcher | Movie | 2003 | 5.5 | 30% |
| The Dead Zone | The Dead Zone | TV Series | 2002 | 7.5 | N/A |
| Hearts in Atlantis | Hearts in Atlantis | Movie | 2001 | 6.9 | 50% |
| The Green Mile | The Green Mile* | Movie | 1999 | 8.5 | 80% |
| Different Seasons | Apt Pupil | Movie | 1998 | 6.7 | 53% |
| The Shining | The Shining | Miniseries | 1997 | 6.1 | N/A |
| Thinner | Thinner | Movie | 1996 | 5.7 | 16% |
| Dolores Claiborne | Dolores Claiborne | Movie | 1995 | 7.4 | 82% |
| Four Past Midnight | The Langoliers | Miniseries | 1995 | 6.1 | 50% |
| Night Shift | The Mangler | Movie | 1995 | 3.9 | 20% |
| The Stand | The Stand | Miniseries | 1994 | 7.3 | N/A |
| Different Seasons | The Shawshank Redemption* | Movie | 1994 | 9.3 | 91% |
| The Tommyknockers | The Tommyknockers | Miniseries | 1993 | 5.3 | 8% |
| The Dark Half | The Dark Half | Movie | 1993 | 5.9 | 60% |
| Needful Things | Needful Things | Movie | 1993 | 6.2 | 26% |
| Night Shift | The Lawnmower Man | Movie | 1992 | 5.3 | 38% |
| Night Shift | Graveyard Shift | Movie | 1990 | 4.7 | 13% |
| It | It | Miniseries | 1990 | 6.9 | 67% |
| Misery | Misery* | Movie | 1990 | 7.8 | 89% |
| Pet Sematary | Pet Sematary | Movie | 1989 | 6.6 | 43% |
| The Running Man | The Running Man* | Movie | 1987 | 6.6 | 61% |
| Different Seasons | Stand By Me* | Movie | 1986 | 8.1 | 91% |
| Night Shift | Maximum Overdrive | Movie | 1986 | 5.4 | 17% |
| Cycle of the Werewolf | Silver Bullet | Movie | 1985 | 6.3 | 50% |
| Night Shift | Cat’s Eye | Movie | 1985 | 6.2 | 67% |
| Firestarter | Firestarter | Movie | 1984 | 6.0 | 82% |
| Night Shift | Children of the Corn | Movie | 1984 | 5.6 | 38% |
| The Dead Zone | The Dead Zone | Movie | 1983 | 7.3 | 90% |
| Christine | Christine | Movie | 1983 | 6.6 | 65% |
| Cujo | Cujo | Movie | 1983 | 6.0 | 59% |
| The Shining | The Shining* | Movie | 1980 | 8.5 | 92% |
| 'Salem's Lot | Salem’s Lot | Miniseries | 1979 | 6.8 | 83% |
| Carrie | Carrie* | Movie | 1976 | 7.4 | 92% |
* Adaptations marked with an asterisk are Derry Connection faves!