Stephen King Movies: Release Order
Stephen King is one of the most frequently adapted authors in film history, with dozens of feature film adaptations based on his novels, novellas, and short stories. His work spans multiple genres, from supernatural horror to prison dramas, psychological thrillers to coming-of-age tales. CineSort doesn't cover made-for-TV movies, but note that productions like the 1990 It miniseries and 1979's Salem's Lot are highly regarded classics and clear recommendations.
This complete feature film release order includes everything from acclaimed masterpieces like The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption to lesser-known adaptations and remakes. The quality varies wildly across decades, with some films becoming cultural landmarks while others received poor critical reception. Despite this range, King's influence on cinema remains undeniable, with new adaptations continuing to appear regularly.
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Carrie
A shy, tormented teenager discovers she possesses telekinetic powers while dealing with relentless bullying at school and her religious fanatic mother at home. As her abilities grow stronger, the psychological pressure builds toward a devastating climax.
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The Shining
A writer takes a job as winter caretaker at an isolated hotel with his wife and psychic son, but the hotel's dark history begins to drive him toward madness.
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Creepshow
A horror anthology film inspired by 1950s EC Comics, featuring five interconnected tales of supernatural revenge, mysterious creatures, and dark comeuppance that blend camp with genuine scares.
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Disciples of the Crow
A couple traveling through a small Oklahoma town discovers it has been overtaken by a dangerous cult of children who worship a mysterious crow deity.

Cujo
A friendly St. Bernard named Cujo contracts rabies and becomes a deadly threat to a small American town in this Stephen King adaptation.
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The Dead Zone
After waking from a five-year coma, a schoolteacher discovers he has gained psychic abilities that allow him to see visions of the past, present, and future through physical contact with others.
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Christine
A nerdy high schooler becomes obsessed with restoring a rusty 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine, but as the car transforms, so does he in increasingly disturbing ways. His girlfriend and best friend try to help him, but discover the car has a supernatural and dangerous influence over its owner.
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Children of the Corn
A traveling couple becomes stranded in a remote Nebraska town controlled by a sinister cult of children who worship a dark entity dwelling in the surrounding cornfields.
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Firestarter
A young girl with pyrokinetic abilities becomes the target of a dangerous government agency that seeks to exploit her extraordinary power to start fires with her mind.
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Cat's Eye
Three interconnected horror tales linked by a stray cat, featuring a man desperately trying to quit smoking, an adulterer forced onto a dangerous ledge, and a young girl threatened by a malevolent creature.
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Silver Bullet
A small town is terrorized by a series of brutal murders, with residents suspecting the work of a mysterious creature. A young boy becomes key to uncovering the truth behind the deadly attacks.
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Maximum Overdrive
When a comet passes close to Earth, machines worldwide come alive and turn murderous. A group of people trapped at a truck stop must fight for survival against homicidal 18-wheelers and other killer machines.
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Stand by Me
Four Oregon boys embark on a journey to find the body of a missing boy their age, discovering friendship and facing the challenges of growing up along the way. Based on a Stephen King novella, this coming-of-age tale explores the bonds formed during a pivotal childhood adventure.
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Creepshow 2
This horror anthology presents three chilling tales from a comic book, featuring a vengeful wooden Native American statue, a deadly creature lurking in a lake, and a persistent undead hitchhiker.
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The Running Man
In a dystopian future where society is controlled through violent game shows, a wrongly convicted man must survive a deadly televised hunt where criminals fight for their freedom against ruthless killers.
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Pet Sematary
When the Creed family's cat dies in an accident, a well-meaning neighbor introduces them to an ancient burial ground with dark supernatural powers.
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Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
A young boy desperately tells three chilling horror tales to a witch who has captured him for dinner, hoping his stories will save his life.
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Graveyard Shift
A drifter takes a midnight shift job cleaning the basement of a textile mill in a small Maine town. As the workers venture deeper underground, they discover a terrifying creature lurking in the depths.
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Misery
After a car accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan, but her obsession takes a terrifying turn when she holds him captive in her remote home.
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The Dark Half
A writer who publishes violent novels under a pseudonym tries to bury his dark alter ego, but the fictional persona seems to come to life and begin committing real murders.
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Needful Things
A mysterious antique shop opens in a small Maine town, offering residents their deepest desires in exchange for seemingly small favors that gradually tear the community apart.
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The Shawshank Redemption
A banker wrongly imprisoned for murder finds hope and redemption through friendship and perseverance during his decades-long sentence at Shawshank State Penitentiary.
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The Mangler
A industrial laundry machine becomes possessed by a demonic force and begins terrorizing workers at a commercial laundry facility.
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Dolores Claiborne
When Dolores Claiborne is accused of murdering her wealthy employer, her estranged daughter returns home to uncover the truth about this crime and a decades-old mystery involving her abusive father's death.
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Thinner
An overweight lawyer is cursed by an elderly Romani man to rapidly lose weight, forcing him to desperately seek help from his criminal associates to lift the deadly hex before it kills him.
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The Night Flier
A cynical tabloid journalist investigates a mysterious killer who travels by night in a black Cessna, landing at remote airfields to murder locals. As he tracks this elusive predator, the reporter discovers something far more terrifying than any story he's ever covered.
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Apt Pupil
A brilliant high school student becomes obsessed with an elderly man he suspects of being a Nazi war criminal, leading to a dangerous psychological game between them.
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The Green Mile
Set on death row in a Southern prison, this supernatural drama follows head guard Paul Edgecomb as he encounters John Coffey, a gentle giant with mysterious healing powers who may be innocent of his crime.
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Hearts in Atlantis
A widowed mother and her young son's lives are transformed when a mysterious stranger with psychic abilities arrives in their small 1960s town.
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Dreamcatcher
Four childhood friends with psychic abilities must confront an alien invasion during a hunting trip in the Maine woods, while also battling a ruthless military force determined to contain the extraterrestrial threat.
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Secret Window
A writer recovering from a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a mysterious stranger who claims he stole his story idea. As the writer tries to prove his innocence, his grip on reality begins to slip.
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Riding the Bullet
A troubled college artist in 1969 hitchhikes to visit his hospitalized mother after a suicide attempt, embarking on a dark journey that blurs the line between reality and nightmare.
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1408
A skeptical writer who debunks paranormal phenomena decides to spend the night in room 1408, a notoriously haunted hotel room, only to discover that some supernatural legends are terrifyingly real.
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No Smoking
A chain smoker seeks help from a mysterious guru to quit his addiction, but discovers the cost of breaking free may be more than he bargained for.
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The Mist
After a violent storm engulfs a small Maine town in mysterious mist, a father and son become trapped in a grocery store with other residents who discover the fog conceals deadly creatures lurking outside.
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Dolan's Cadillac
A mild-mannered school teacher becomes consumed with revenge after his wife is murdered by a ruthless Las Vegas mob boss, leading him to infiltrate the criminal underworld with a elaborate plan for justice.
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Carrie
A bullied teenage girl with telekinetic powers struggles with cruel classmates and her fanatically religious mother in this adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel.
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A Good Marriage
A woman's 25-year marriage is shattered when she uncovers a dark secret about her husband that forces her to question everything she thought she knew about their life together.
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Mercy
A single mother and her two sons move in to care for their grandmother, who possesses mysterious supernatural abilities.
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Cell
When a mysterious signal transmits through cell phone networks worldwide, it transforms users into violent creatures, forcing a group of survivors in New England to navigate the resulting chaos.
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The Dark Tower
A young boy with psychic visions teams up with a gunslinger from a parallel world to protect the Dark Tower, a mystical structure that holds multiple universes together from destruction.
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It
Seven outcast children in a small Maine town must confront their fears when they encounter Pennywise, a sinister shapeshifting clown that terrorizes their community.
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Gerald's Game
A woman becomes trapped and handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house after her husband's death, forcing her to confront psychological demons and fight for survival.

1922
A rancher plots to kill his wife for financial gain and manipulates his teenage son into helping with the deadly scheme.

Pet Sematary
Dr. Louis Creed and his family move to rural Maine, where they discover a mysterious pet cemetery in the woods near their new home. What starts as a curious discovery soon leads the family into dark and supernatural territory.
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In the Tall Grass
A pregnant woman and her brother enter a vast field of tall grass to help a screaming child, only to discover they've become trapped in an inescapable maze with other mysterious inhabitants.

It Chapter Two
Twenty-seven years later, the adult members of the Losers' Club return to their hometown of Derry when the evil entity Pennywise resurfaces to terrorize the town once again.
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Doctor Sleep
Years after his traumatic childhood at the Overlook Hotel, Dan Torrance must confront his past when he encounters a teenage girl with powerful psychic abilities who needs his protection from sinister forces.
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Children of the Corn
In a small Nebraska town, a psychopathic twelve-year-old girl manipulates the local children into a violent uprising against the adults. A rebellious high schooler becomes the town's last hope for survival against the deadly cult of children.
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Firestarter
A young girl with pyrokinetic abilities becomes the target of a shadowy government agency that wants to weaponize her dangerous gift. As her parents struggle to keep her hidden, Charlie must learn to control her explosive powers before she's captured.
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Mr. Harrigan's Phone
A young boy forms an unlikely friendship with a reclusive billionaire over their shared love of books and technology. After the old man's death, the boy discovers their connection may transcend the grave through supernatural means.

The Boogeyman
A teenage girl and her younger sister face a terrifying supernatural presence in their home while trying to cope with their mother's recent death and get their grieving father's attention.
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'Salem's Lot
Author Ben Mears returns to his childhood hometown of Jerusalem's Lot, only to discover that a bloodthirsty vampire is terrorizing the residents.

The Life of Chuck
An extraordinary story following Charles 'Chuck' Krantz as he navigates the universal experiences of love, loss, and the complexities of human existence.
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The Monkey
Twin brothers discover a cursed wind-up monkey toy that triggers a deadly killing spree, forcing them to confront the supernatural threat years later when the deaths begin again.
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The Long Walk
In a dystopian alternate America, 50 teenage boys are forced to participate in a deadly annual walking contest where they must maintain a minimum pace or face execution.
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The Running Man
A desperate father enters a deadly televised competition game to save his sick daughter, but his unexpected popularity with audiences makes him a threat to the system itself.
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Related Film Series
Children of the Corn
A horror franchise following the murderous cult of children who worship a malevolent entity called He Who Walks Behind the Rows across multiple timelines and locations.
It
The Losers Club faces off against Pennywise, a shape-shifting entity that terrorizes the town of Derry every 27 years.
Pet Sematary
Stephen King's horror franchise about a cursed burial ground in Maine that brings the dead back to life with terrifying consequences.
Other Film Series
A Quiet Place
A post-apocalyptic horror series about survivors navigating a world where deadly creatures hunt by sound, forcing humanity to live in complete silence.
Asia Argento
Italian actress and filmmaker, daughter of horror director Dario Argento, known for her work in European arthouse cinema and collaborations with major auteurs.
Hannibal Lecter
A psychological thriller franchise following the brilliant and cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, adapted from Thomas Harris's novels across multiple timelines and interpretations.
Hell
Films that explore Hell as a setting, theme, or destination, from literal depictions of the underworld to psychological interpretations of damnation.
Jenna Ortega
An actress known for her horror performances and diverse dramatic roles across independent and blockbuster films.
Unbreakable
M. Night Shyamalan's grounded superhero trilogy following ordinary people who discover extraordinary abilities, culminating in an unexpected crossover.