2025 Quietly Began A New Era For Stephen King Adaptations

2025 quietly marked the inception of a Stephen King adaptation trend that will seemingly carry forward into the upcoming years.

Looking back, it is hard not to see how 2025 was an incredible year for Stephen King fans, especially because so many new adaptations of his stories hit the big and small screens. Even though Stephen King's books keep getting new adaptations almost every year, not all movies and shows based on his works perform well among viewers and critics.

In 2025, though, this trend seemingly changed as most movies and shows based on his works at least garnered decent reviews. Interestingly, a closer look at 2025's Stephen King adaptations also reveals how they started a new era for the author's adaptations.

Stephen King’s TV Adaptations In 2025 Were Far More Commercially Successful Than The Movies

2025 was packed with many acclaimed Stephen King movie adaptations like The Monkey, The Life of Chuck, and The Long Walk. Interestingly, though, most of these movies struggled to leave their mark at the global box office. While The Monkey managed to break even, all other Stephen King movies from 2025, including The Running Man, ended up underperforming despite landing favorable reviews.

Two Stephen King TV shows also premiered in 2025: It: Welcome to Derry and The Institute. Considering the long history of underwhelming TV adaptations of the King of Horror's works, it was hard not to be a little skeptical about both shows.

Surprisingly, though, both became hits. While It: Welcome to Derry shattered streaming records for HBO, The Institute was renewed for season 2 and remained among MGM+'s top-performing shows.

Before The Institute and It: Welcome to Derry, HBO's The Outsider was the last Stephen King TV adaptation that performed well among critics. It came out almost 5 years ago in 2020. While the IT movies became blockbusters, TV adaptations of the author's works remained underwhelming for a long time.

However, The Institute and It: Welcome to Derry's success proves that the tides are finally turning. Movie adaptations that were once profitable have become hits or misses at the box offices. Meanwhile, TV shows based on King's works are showing more potential and are seemingly starting to achieve more consistent commercial success.

Some Of The Most Highly-Anticipated Upcoming Stephen King Projects Are TV Shows

Although many exciting Stephen King projects are lined up for the upcoming years, some of the best ones are going to be TV shows. For instance, even the most talked-about upcoming Stephen King TV adaptation, Mike Flanagan's Carrie, is a TV show. Although Flanagan's Dark Tower adaptation is not releasing anytime soon, it will also be a TV series.

JJ Abrams is also working on a TV adaptation of Stephen King's Billy Summers. Meanwhile, Paul Greengrass, of the Bourne franchise fame, is also involved with a TV show based on Stephen King's Fairy Tale.

The Institute will also expand the original Stephen King book's lore with season 2, while It: Welcome to Derry will also be back with at least one more installment. With so many exciting Stephen King TV shows lined up, it is fair to say that we have entered a new era where TV adaptations of the horror author's works are outpacing movies.