A New Era Of Stephen King Adaptations Is Here

Published Oct 14, 2026, 4:30 PM EDT Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. Stephen King adaptations aren’t new, but they have officially entered a new and exciting era. The works of Stephen King have been a big inspiration for many artists for decades, and thanks to the richness of the Stephen King universe, his stories continue to be picked for adaptations to film and TV. Some of King’s stories have even been adapted to other media more than once, as is the case for Salem’s Lot, Pet Sematary, It, and Carrie. TV is an ideal format for a Stephen King adaptation given how extensive and rich most of his novels are, thus giving them enough time to properly develop the characters, their stories, and the horrors they are about to face. Some King adaptations now rank among the best TV shows of all time, such as It (1990), 11.23.63, and The Outsider, and now TV adaptations of King’s works have officially entered a new era thanks to two recent hits: It: Welcome to Derry and Carrie. It: Welcome to Derry was released in 2025 and quickly became one of HBO’s biggest shows of the year, surpassing expectations for the highly anticipated show that saw the return of Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise. In October 2026, Mike Flanagan’s Carrie was released on Prime Video and quickly climbed to the streamer’s Top 10, while also becoming a critical success. It’s thanks to them that King adaptations are entering a new era, and their future is looking bright. It: Welcome To Derry & Carrie Have Brought Stephen King’s Works To Modern Streaming It: Welcome to Derry isn’t a new adaptation of Stephen King’s It, but a prequel to the adaptation made by Andy Muschietti in It and It Chapter Two. As such, Welcome to Derry takes viewers 27 years before the events of Muschietti’s first movie, thus being set in 1962. As It awakens to feed, a group of young teens team up to confront the creature, while the military is trying to locate the creature’s lair to weaponize it. The success of Welcome to Derry led to its renewal, with season 2 going back another 27 years to 1935 and covering the Bradley gang massacre among other events triggered by Pennywise’s presence. On the other hand, Carrie, while based on the novel of the same name, is a reimagining and modernization of King’s story, but it stays true to its core message. Carrie follows Carrie White (Summer H. Howell), who, after being homeschooled and isolated her entire life by her mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan), is forced to attend high school. Carrie’s excitement and curiosity around this new chapter in her life take a turn when a bullying scandal targeted at her gets out of hand, awakening her telekinetic powers in the process. Both Welcome to Derry and Carrie are new takes on popular King stories, and they were successfully brought into modern streaming, thus kicking off a new era of King adaptations. In both cases, the shows were adapted to modern audiences and viewing patterns, with Welcome to Derry going for a weekly release schedule and Carrie’s episodes being released all at once for binge-watching. Future King shows releasing on streaming have a lot to learn from Welcome to Derry and Carrie, and hopefully, they will continue their streak of success. What’s Next For Stephen King TV Adaptations On Streaming Welcome to Derry and Carrie have become the blueprint for Stephen King TV adaptations on streaming, and it won’t be long before we see if upcoming adaptations have taken note of their success. As mentioned above, Welcome to Derry will return with a second season, while Carrie, at the time of writing, continues to be considered a miniseries, and there’s nothing official on a potential second season. MGM+’s The Institute will return on November 8 with its second season, and it will tell a new story after season 1 covered the events of the book. Over at Prime Video, Mike Flanagan is developing a TV adaptation of The Dark Tower, and while the project is still in pre-production, Flanagan has shared his hopes for it becoming a reality in the near future. This is only the beginning of Stephen King TV adaptations in modern streaming, and it’s to be seen which other stories will join. Birthdate September 21, 1947 Birthplace Portland, Maine, USA Notable Projects The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, It, The Stand, Misery, The Dark Tower, Mr. Mercedes, Carrie Height 6 feet 4 inches Professions Author, Screenwriter, Producer, Director, Actor