Stephen King's new masterpiece is officially one of HBO Max's biggest streaming hits

Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House, and Doctor Sleep craftsman Mike Flanagan will soon return to the Stephen King catalog with his latest adaptation, following a television deal with Amazon MGM Studios under his Red Room Pictures banner. Flanagan is turning King's debut novel Carrie, which has already been adapted into a screen horror classic and a less loved remake, into a TV series, set to star Curse of Chucky alum Summer Howell as the misfit titular teen.

Aiming to put a modern spin on the story without losing the terrifying essence of the source material, Flanagan's Carrie is one of the most hotly anticipated shows for horror fans this year, and will debut later in 2026 in time for the bestselling novel's 50th anniversary. Also starring alongside Howell are the likes of Matthew Lillard, Amber Midthunder, Heather Graham, and Katee Sackhoff. With this, a new version of The Mist, Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream, and more in the works, it's a wonderful time to be a fan of King adaptations.

But of the many that have been released in the last decade, none were better received than The Long Walk, based on King's 1979 novel of the same name and starring Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. Against a production budget of $20 million, the movie earned a total haul of $63 million in theaters, split between $35 million in domestic revenue and a further $28 million from overseas markets, which was a slight underperformance. Thankfully, Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence's adaptation has since smashed streaming expectations and is currently the most-watched movie on HBO Max in the U.S., outperforming the likes of Lee Cronin's The Mummy, the sleeper horror hit Undertone, and the superhero sequel Deadpool 2.

'The Long Walk' Wasn't the Only Stephen King Adaptation Last Year

Last year, there were three big-name King film adaptations, with The Long Walkthe best of the bunch. Glen Powell’s remake of The Running Man, directed by Edgar Wright(Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver), sadly flopped at the box office and faced a mixed critical reception. A similar financial struggle faced The Life of Chuck, starring Tom Hiddleston, with both later finding streaming success.

The Long Walk is available to stream on HBO Max. For more of the latest streaming stories, make sure to stay tuned to Collider.