The next Stephen King (Mr. Mercedes) novel to receive a television adaptation, after series like The Outsider and The Stand, will be Fairy Tale. The project was initially purchased by Universal, and conceived as a feature adaptation with Paul Greengrass (Omagh) as screenwriter and director. They later let this project go, deciding its 600-page length would be better suited to the medium of television.
The feature script will be expanded by Greengrass and J.H. Wyman (Fringe, Almost Human). Wyman will act as showrunner for the 10-episode series. Executive producer Peter Rice (Saturday Night, 28 Years Later), who read and loved the book, pushed for the project at A24, with Greengrass remaining and Wyman joining him.
Published by Scribner, King’s 2022 bestseller Fairy Tale is his first foray into traditional fantasy fare. The story follows Charlie Reade, a 17-year-old boy who enters a portal to a terrifying world where good and evil are both at stake. The magic lies in the world surrounding the kind Charlie, who is eventually rewarded with a sundial that gains him entry into the portal. This inciting incident doesn’t occur until around page 100, a typical feature of King’s descriptive, digressive writing style. Some novels, as the executive heads have decided in this case, are simply better fit for the structural demands of television.
After years in executive positions, Rice has ventured into a new career as a producer, recently helping the Jason Reitman-directed feature Saturday Night into theaters. Fairy Tale will be the first credited television project this decade for both Rice and Greengrass.
King is repped by Rand Holston Management and Gang Tyre. Greengrass is repped by CAA and Goodman Genow, and Wyman by CAA, Anonymous Content and Entertainment Law Group.