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Stephen King Reveals His 10 Favorite Movies (Not Based on His Books)
Stephen King is one of the most adapted authors in history, with his bibliography serving as the foundation for countless films and television series. The seemingly endless appetite for his work continues this year, with a film adaptation of his novel The Long Walk arriving in theaters this week. Additionally, the prequel series It: Welcome to Derry is set to premiere on HBO next month. Beyond his prolific writing, King is also quite vocal on social media, offering fans a direct glimpse into his opinions on pop culture that extend far beyond his own fictional universes. In a recent post, the author shared his ten favorite movies of all time, and the list contains some genuine surprises for his followers.
Taking to the social media platform X, King unveiled a curated list of his most cherished films. The collection features several undisputed classics that are cornerstones of cinematic history. Among these are Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster epic The Godfather Part II, Steven Spielberg’s seminal blockbuster Jaws, and the timeless Humphrey Bogart romance Casablanca. The list also includes Martin Scorsese’s gritty crime drama Mean Streets, Spielberg’s science fiction masterpiece Close Encounters of the Third Kind, John Huston’s classic adventure The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and the iconic film noir Double Indemnity.
Alongside these universally recognized pictures, King highlighted a few films whose inclusion speaks to his specific tastes as a storyteller. He championed William Friedkin’s critically lauded but commercially overlooked thriller Sorcerer, a film about four desperate fugitives tasked with transporting unstable nitroglycerin through a treacherous South American jungle. He also included Sam Peckinpah’s action film The Getaway, starring Steve McQueen as a bank robber who is double-crossed after a heist, forcing him and his wife on a violent run from the law and former associates. Rounding out the selections is the beloved comedy Groundhog Day, in which Bill Murray plays a cynical weatherman who finds himself trapped in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over.
Some of Stephen King’s Favorite Movies Are Based on His Work
In the original social media post, King made a point to clarify that his top ten list deliberately excluded any movies based on his own work. He specifically mentioned four titles he was leaving out to be fair: Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and Stand by Me. By singling out these four, he unofficially crowned them as his personal favorite adaptations, each one a celebrated film that has left a lasting mark on cinema.
Two of the films King highlighted were directed by Rob Reiner, beginning with the 1986 coming-of-age classic Stand by Me. Based on the novella “The Body,” the film is a poignant story about four young friends who embark on a journey to find the body of a missing boy. Its strength lies in its authentic portrayal of friendship and the transition from childhood innocence to the harsh realities of adulthood, making it a timeless favorite. Reiner also directed 1990’s Misery, a psychological horror based on King’s novel of the same name. The film features a terrifying, Academy Award-winning performance from Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes, a deranged fan who holds her favorite author captive.
The other two films on King’s special mention list were helmed by director Frank Darabont. The Shawshank Redemption, adapted from the novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” is a powerful drama about hope and survival inside a brutal prison. Despite a modest box office performance upon its 1994 release, it has since become one of the most beloved and acclaimed films of all time, praised for its emotional depth and inspiring narrative. Darabont followed this success with 1999’s The Green Mile, a supernatural drama set on death row during the Great Depression. The film, starring Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan, is an emotionally devastating story that explores themes of compassion, injustice, and miracles, and it remains a celebrated example of King’s work brought to life with profound humanity.
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