Giancarlo Esposito Is Working to Adapt the Terrifying Stephen King Story THE DREAMERS
Stephen King fans have had a feast of adaptations this year. Six different projects arrived across theaters and television, stretching from Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey early in the year to HBO’s It: Welcome To Derry, which wraps its first season this weekend.
It has been a stacked slate for King fans, with The Long Walk and The Life of Chuck, and yet the pipeline of new material shows no signs of slowing.
The latest project stepping into that line comes from Giancarlo Esposito, who is gearing up to bring one of King’s most chilling recent novellas to the screen.
Esposito has a fun bit of history with King’s world. He popped up in Maximum Overdrive back in 1986 and later starred in the premiere episode of Creepshow, adapted from King’s short story “Gray Matter.” Now he is diving back in on a much bigger level.
Deadline reports that he is developing a film based on The Dreamers, a novella from King’s 2024 collection You Like It Darker. Esposito said a deal is close to being finalized and that he is teaming with screenwriter Guy Busick, whom he previously worked with on the 2024 horror film Abigail.
He described where things stand, saying, “We are in the final stages of closing our deal to make the movie of The Dreamers and Guy Busick and I are collaborating and working together to hone the screenplay.
“We’ve known each other for many years and finally had a chance to work together on Abigail which was a fantastic experience and we wanted to find a project to do together and Stephen King’s The Dreamers is a story that will blow your mind and open your heart in so many ways and we can’t wait to bring it to life.”
If you read You Like It Darker, you probably remember how unnerving The Dreamers is. The story follows a talented transcriptionist who accepts a job with an eccentric scientist in Castle Rock, Maine.
The researcher is obsessed with discovering what hides beneath human dreams and begins testing a hypnotic drug on subjects who are instructed to study a photograph of a mysterious house in the woods and then explore it in their minds.
The early experiments produce odd disturbances before spiraling into a full cosmic descent that feels ripped straight from a Lovecraft nightmare. The imagery in the novella is intense, and seeing it realized on screen could be pretty incredible.
Busick also helped craft Ready Or Not, Scream (2022), Scream VI, and Final Destination: Bloodlines. He also has his own King experience thanks to his work as a writer and story editor on Season 2 of Hulu’s Castle Rock. Coming up next for him are Scream 7 arriving in February 2026 and Ready Or Not: Here I Come in April 2026.
Looking ahead at the broader Stephen King landscape, the only adaptation currently set for next year is Mike Flanagan’s series take on Carrie for Prime Video. Of course, the industry shifts quickly, so new projects can spring forward at any time. With Esposito and Busick now developing The Dreamers, l’ll be watching for updates.
