Rob Reiner adapted Stephen King better than anyone – here he explained why

There are few authors more enduringly popular than Stephen King – but despite more than 80 film and television adaptations of his work, relatively few have achieved the stature of his best books.

The exception has long been adaptations guided by Rob Reiner, the filmmaker and producer who was found dead alongside his wife at their home on Sunday. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Reiner helped shape what is widely regarded as the gold standard for King adaptations, beginning with two films he directed that remain beloved far beyond King’s core readership: Stand By Me (1986) and Misery (1990).

Stand By Me, adapted from the novella The Body from King’s 1982 collection Different Seasons, earned Reiner a Golden Globe nomination for best director. Four years later, Misery, based on King’s 1987 psychological horror novel, became the only King adaptation to win an Academy Award, with Kathy Bates taking best actress for her ferocious, unsettling turn as Annie Wilkes.

Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her role in Misery directed by Rob Reiner. Photo: Columbia Pictures

Reiner’s influence on King’s screen legacy, however, extended well beyond the films he directed. Through Castle Rock Entertainment, the production company he co-founded and named after King’s fictional Maine town, Reiner helped shepherd a remarkable run of adaptations, including The Shawshank Redemption, Dolores Claiborne and The Green Mile. In each case, he was far more creatively involved than his producer credit alone might suggest.

Why Reiner succeeded where so many others – including, at times, King himself – struggled was something he articulated clearly. In an unpublished interview from 2017, Reiner explained that filmmakers often misunderstood what lay at the heart of King’s work.

“There's one main thing that gets overlooked,” Reiner said. “When you think about Stephen King, you go right to horror and supernatural.