The New Netflix Series Stephen King Says He’s Addicted To
Stephen King is a master of horror, so there are plenty of people who are interested to hear about his recommendations. The author isn’t shy about sharing his opinion, and he recently took to Twitter (now X) to talk about the Netflix series Painkiller, which is about a different kind of horror — the opioid crisis. King gave the series a glowing review and mentioned how the story related to him personally.
Stephen King has been very open about his previous struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, specifically in his book On Writing. Despite becoming sober in the 1980s, King was apparently offered Oxycotin, a major driver of the opioid epidemic, by his doctors after getting in a major accident in 1999. As the series Painkiller shows, King was far from the only one who has been offered opioids when they might not have needed them.
Stephen King took to social media to give high praise to the Netflix original series Painkiller about the opioid crisis.
Painkiller is a limited six-episode series made for Netflix, which is based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” and the novel Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier.
The show focuses on the birth of the opioid crisis and the part that Richard Sackler and his Purdue Pharma company played in the crisis by manufacturing OxyContin. While Stephen King may have enjoyed the series, the reviews of it were relatively mixed overall.
Painkiller was directed by Peter Berg and created by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, with a cast that included Matthew Broderick as Richard Sackler and Uzo Aduba as Edie Flowers.
The rest of the cast was rounded out by Sam Anderson, Clark Gregg, Taylor Kitsch, Carolina Bartczak, Tyler Ritter, John Ales, Ron Lea, Ana Cruz Kayne, West Duchovny, Jack Mulhern, Dina Shihabi, John Rothman, John Murphy, and Noah Harpster. If you missed the series don’t be too surprised, as it just dropped on Netflix in August, which is why Stephen King is probably just now catching up on it.
Upcoming Stephen King Adaptations
Meanwhile, Stephen King probably has plenty of his own stuff in the works. As one of the most prolific authors out there, he has also had many of his works adapted and will have many more adaptations to come. The newest of which should be the upcoming adaptation of Salem’s Lot, which will be the second time that King’s 1975 novel has been put to film.
Salem’s Lot has unfortunately been delayed a few times, and although it’s set for a 2023 release date, there’s a chance that we may have to wait a bit longer for that particular Stephen King adaptation to arrive. In any case, the Salem’s Lot adaptation is directed by Gary Dauberman and will be brought to us by Warner Bros Pictures. The film follows a writer who returns to his hometown, only to find that it is being preyed upon by a vampire.
The upcoming film adaptations of his works include Billy Summers, Christine, Elevation, Fairy Tale, From a Buick 8, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Life of Chuck, The Little Green God of Agony, The Running Man, and Throttle.
The Stephen King Salem’s Lot adaptation also has a solid cast that includes Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Bill Camp, Pilou Asbæk, Alfre Woodard, and William Sadler. The film was actually supposed to be released in September 2022 but was pushed back due to COVID delays in post-production, only for its April 2023 release date to be replaced by Evil Dead Rise. Presumably, the film is pretty much done, but Warner Bros Pictures is just looking for the right time to release it.
In any case, Stephen King has a bunch more film adaptations of his works on the horizon, although none of them have a solid release date. The upcoming film adaptations of his works include Billy Summers, Christine, Elevation, Fairy Tale, From a Buick 8, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Life of Chuck, The Little Green God of Agony, The Running Man, and Throttle. Some directors attached to those projects include Bryan Fuller, Paul Greengrass, Jim Mickle, Lynne Ramsay, Mike Flanagan, and Edgar Wright.
Another adaptation that has been in the works for a while is the Netflix series Overlook, which is a spin-off of The Shining that takes place in the titular hotel. Again, there’s no telling when that might come out, but hopefully, it’s sooner than later. In the meantime, you can take Stephen King’s suggestion and stream Painkiller on Netflix now.
