While Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower wasn’t the franchise starter that we may have hoped for, It wildly surpassed all expectations on its way to a record breaking opening weekend of $123 million. As you might expect, the studios are already clamoring for the next King adaptation, and it’s a deep cut from his past. King’s short story, Suffer the Little Children, has not only been optioned, it’s already got a director in place!
Deadline broke the news that Sean Carter (Keep Watching) is set to write and direct Suffer the Little Children, a story that was first published in the magazine Cavalier back in 1972. It was later republished as part of King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes. The story follows Emily Sidley, a recently divorced teacher who notices that several of her first grade children are behaving in odd ways, and she soon suspects that they may not actually be children at all.
There was a TV adaptation of Nightmares & Dreamscapes in 2006, but Suffer the Little Children was not one of the stories that made the cut in that project. This movie will be the first time that the story has received an official big budget adaptation. But it’s far from the only King story heading in front of the cameras within the next few years.
As reported by Zerner Law earlier this summer, King has quietly begun to reclaim the film and TV rights for several of his previous stories, including Children of the Corn, Cujo, The Dead Zone, Firestarter, and Cat’s Eye. That could mean that we’ll be getting quite a few new adaptations once those rights finish reverting back to King.
Are you excited about seeing Suffer the Little Children hit the big screen? Scare up some thoughts in the comment section below!
Images:Â Simon & Schuster
Here’s What’s Going on in It…
- Read our glowing review of It
- An It sequel will explore the history of Pennywise
- Pennywise is even more terrifying as a toddler
