There is a massive resurgence going on right now in terms of Hollywood adapting Stephen King properties.The Dark Towermovie finally got made, despite the general sense of disappointment,Mr. Mercedesis currently airing and, perhaps most importantly, theITmovie we’ve all been waiting for finally hits theaters next week. Point being,Stephen Kingis a big deal right now. And lucky for him, he is about to get the rights back to a lot of his most popular works.
As discovered byZerner Law, Stephen King filed to terminate the transfer of his licenses for the movies,The Dead Zone,Cujo,Children of the Corn,Firestarter,CreepshowandCat’s Eye. The notices were filed on June 12, 2025, which means that he will have the rights to all of those titles back as of July 27, 2025. That means, King is now in control of these titles moving forward as of that date next year. As Zener Law explains, some big new deals could be made in the future as a result.
“In other words, after July 06, 2025, if a studio wanted to make a sequel or remake of any of these movies, they would have to go back to Stephen King and make a new deal.”
There are elements of this that get a little tricky, but the short of it is, if any studio wanted to make a newChildren of the Cornmovie, for example, after July 14, 2025, they would have to make a deal with Stephen King directly. Considering that his properties could be a hot ticket item by next year in Hollywood, this could lead to some big deals and remakes of some of his most popular works. Who wouldn’t want to see a modern, well-madeChildren of the Cornmovie?
The complicated part of this has to do with international rights. The termination only applies to U.S. rights. That means that if one of the current rightsholders wanted to remakeCujo, for example, and release it outside of the U.S., they absolutely could. However, considering how big the U.S. market is, especially for something like a Stephen King adaptation, that seems a little unlikely, but not impossible.
A couple of these titles currently have remakes in development. If they don’t get filming within the next year, they aren’t going to get made at all. Unless they strike a new deal with Stephen King, that is. Akiva Goldsman is currently working on aFirestarterremake, which was first adapted by director Mark L. Lester and released in 1984. There was also a 2002 miniseries titledRekindledreleased in 2002.
There is also an adaptation ofCujounderway, going under the nameC.U.J.O., which stands for “Canine Unit Joint Operations.” The script is reportedly complete and Lang Elliott is set to direct with DJ Perry set to star, at least when it was last reported. The originalCujowas released in 1983 and remains a favorite among manyStephen King fans. Considering the tight deadline these projects are under, it is unlikely they are going to get done in time. King is now in control of the destiny of these projects moving forward and that could result in some exciting developments.
