Stephen King’s 2013 novel Joyland is being adapted into a TV series. This is not the first time that the writer’s written words will transform onto screen. King’s dozens of works have been adapted for small as well as big screens. Carrie, The Shining, Cujo, and It were not only famous novels but also gained popularity as films.
Especially ‘It’, published in 1986, became a miniseries in 1990 starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown and its movie version came out in 2017 September that grossed more than $700m (£548) worldwide. A sequel titled It: Chapter Two also released where Bill Skarsgård will return as Pennywise, while Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Olef, and Jeremy Ray Taylor reprised their original roles.
Joyland is being adapted and developed by Freeform. Karey Burke, the executive vice president of programming and development at Freeform said that they are honoured to work with Stephen Kind who is a master storyteller and understands the importance of culturally embedded tales that resonate with audiences on a deeply personal level.
Joyland is a story that is set in 1973 about a college student Devin Jones who takes a summer job at an amusement park in North Carolina and ends up dealing with an unsolved murder. Chris Pena the writer who worked on the acclaimed satirical comedy drama Jane The Virgin, is working on this project with screen writer Cyrus Nowrasteh who was behind the 2006 miniseries- The Path to 9/11 and the 2008 drama The Stoning of Soraya M.
Both the writers, Peña and Nowrasteh will not only write the script for the pilot and but also act as producers. Ostar Productions’ Bill Harber will be the executive producer. The same producer and productions had made the 2006 Emmy-nominated miniseries Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, based on King’s short stories.