Stephen King’s New Novel Starring Leo DiCaprio, in Development

Stephen King’s bestselling novel Billy Summers is being adapted into a feature film featuring J.J. Abrams and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Although Stephen King is widely regarded as the king of horror fiction, Billy Summers doesn’t deal with the paranormal. The story is a crime thriller featuring an ageing assassin who takes on one last case before his retirement.

The novel came out in 2021 and quickly climbed up the charts and became No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list.

Soon after the release, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions decided to turn the book into a major limited series. Almost one year after this news, Deadline brings us news that Warner Bros. has bought the book’s rights and has decided to adapt it into a major motion picture.

Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick are writing the script, and Leonardo DiCaprio will play the titular character in the film.

Billy Summers is just one of many Stephen King books being adapted into creatives for the small or big screen, including some that will be released this year.

The first one will be The Boogeyman, which just released its final trailer and will hit the theaters on June 2. The remake of Salem’s Lot by Gary Daubermann has had its release date shuffled a lot, but it will also release this year.

Other scheduled releases include an untitled prequel to Pet Sematary, but it’s future is up in the air due to Paramount+’s recent merger with Showtime.

Similarly, many adaptations of Stephen King’s books have been stuck in the development hell for years, including The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, A Buick 8, and The Long Walk.

Another recent King novel, 2021’s Later, is also in development as a limited series with Lucy Liu set to star in it.

Finally, the novel considered the flagship work of King’s career, The Dark Tower, is in development by Mike Flanagan and is set to release on Prime Video.

With a decorated star like Leonardo DiCaprio and famous director J.J. Abrams on board, Billy Summers is the most anticipated Stephen King adaptation, which might go on to win many awards in the future.

The film will mark the fourth creative that Bad Robot Productions is making in collaboration with Stephen King. The previous ones are Hulu’s 11.2.63, Hulu’s Castle Rock, and Apple TV’s Lisey’s Story, though this will be the first time DiCaprio and J.J. Abrams will be a part of the team.