Stephen King's JOYLAND to get Big Screen Treatment by Tate Taylor

The Help writer and director Tate Taylor has optioned the rights to Stephen King's upcoming novel Joyland, and he's looking to adapt the unpublished work into a feature film. The book won't be published until June, but I'm a huge King fan, and I'll be reading it as soon as it's released. If it's good, I'll also be anticipating the release of the movie! This is going to be a classic King story.

Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.

I love the carnival setting, and like most of King's work, I'm sure this is going to make for a solid movie. I also think Tate is a talented director, and he'll end up doing an amazing job with it. Here's what King had to say about his upcoming story...

I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts. That combo made Hard Case Crime the perfect venue for this book, which is one of my favorites. I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.

Taylor is also developing a James Brown biopic with Brian Grazer and Mick Jagger.