Warning: This article includes minor spoilers for The Monkey!

Stephen King movies have hit the big screen, and the most recent is The Monkey.

The horror-comedy film follows a pair of twin brothers whose family gets tormented by a wind-up monkey, and they must come back together 25 years later to end the killer toy once and for all. The Stephen King movie with a high Rotten Tomatoes score broke a 6-year streak of adaptations with fairly low critic scores. However, The Monkey isn’t the only Stephen King film slated for 2025, and it could be his best year yet if the other films do better.

Stephen King's Other 2025 Movies Could Be Better Than The Monkey

The Life of Chuck And The Running Man Look Promising

The Monkey is certainly entertaining, and I’m a sucker for a great horror movie. However, there is good reason to believe that the two other Stephen King movies of 2025 will be more exciting. Both are already getting hype. The Running Man will bring together director Edgar Wright and Golden Globe-nominated actor Glen Powell, both of whom have a great track record. Meanwhile, The Life of Chuck will be directed by prolific director Mike Flanagan and is packed with A-list actors, the most notable of which is Tom Hiddleston.

Wright has successfully navigated different genres, increasing the likelihood that he can handle The Running Man despite his lack of experience with dystopian thrillers. Additionally, his fast pacing and strong cinematographic style will lend itself well to the story. Wright also feels ionate about remaking the 1980s Stephen King movie because he wants to make a faithful movie adaptation that aligns closely with the book. Add Glenn Powell, who’s just off his best year of his career, to the mix, and The Running Man will surely have a chance to outshine The Monkey.

On the other hand, The Life of Chuck already has rave reviews from critics and audience who saw the movie at TIFF. Underneath NEON’s first trailer for The Life of Chuck, commenters who saw the film already called it moving, devastating, and beautiful. This matches up with its 85% Rotten Tomatoes score. While I couldn’t attend the Toronto International Film Festival, I’ll give it a vote of confidence since I’m a massive fan of Flanagan’s directorial and editing style. If The Running Man and The Life of Chuck live up to expectations, 2025 will be an incredible year for Stephen King.

Stephen King's 2025 Could Rival 2017 For The Best Year For His Movies

Stephen King Set An Exciting Record For The Author's Movies

The last year in which Stephen King saw good success in cinematic movie adaptations is 2017. That year, three of the four Stephen King films found great success. Critics praised It, Gerald’s Game, and 1922 – all of which were horror films. All three films are Certified Fresh, which requires a 75% or higher with at least 80 reviews (or 40 with streaming release), five of whom are Top Critics. While Gerald’s Game and 1922 were released on Netflix, It also found immense success at the box office, grossing $704 million on a $35 million budget.

However, not everything was roses and sunshine for Stephen King movies that year. The Dark Tower was released on August 4, 2017. The movie was just shy of becoming a box office success, grossing $113 million on a $60 million budget. Despite nearly doubling its budget, critics and audiences didn’t take to The Dark Tower well. Critics completely panned the film. Audiences were slightly warmer to the film, but it still resulted in middling reviews.

This year could outdo 2017 if all three films get a Certified Fresh score and just one more of the movies more than doubles its budget.

As it stands, 2025 could rival 2017 for Stephen King’s best year, if not beat it. 2017 is the only time that Stephen King has had three Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes scores. If The Life of Chuck keeps its positive reception and The Running Man does well, Stephen King could replicate this in 2025. This would put the two years on par with each other.

However, this year could outdo 2017 if all three films get a Certified Fresh score and just one more of the movies more than doubles its budget. One of the two box office films in 2017 was a box office hit. The Monkey has already grossed $53.5 million on a $10-$11 million budget, putting it in the box office hit category. A second box office hit alongside the Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes scores would push 2025 over the edge, making it the new best year for Stephen King.

There's A Chance Stephen King's 2025 Will Get Even Bigger

A Fourth Stephen King Movie Could Come Out In 2025

Stephen King’s 2025 is already pretty exciting with three hyped up movies that are expected to perform well with critics, audiences, and at the box office. However, there’s a small chance the iconic author’s year will get bigger if the movie adaptation of The Long Walk comes out this year. The Long Walk was stuck in development hell for years, cycling through different directors.

However, the movie is finally filmed and in the post-production phase – a step I wasn’t sure would actually happen based on its numerous delays. Post-production typically takes between six months and a year. Since The Long Walk wrapped on filming in September 2024, the film could be ready between March 2025 and September 2025. This increases the chances of the film hitting the big screen this year.

I Think Life Of Chuck Will Be The Best Stephen King Movie In 2025

The Life Of Chuck Has Many Promising Factors

Looking at all three guaranteed 2025 releases, I think they’ll all turn out great. However, I think The Life of Chuck will be the best for a few reasons. Firstly, the early reviews for The Life of Chuck from the Toronto International Film Festival make the film seem promising. Critics and audiences rarely align so closely when it comes to early responses. However, the high Rotten Tomatoes scores align with The Life of Chuck winning the People’s Choice Award at TIFF.

Additionally, Mike Flanagan’s major advantage over a past Stephen King movie that the film’s indie status will allow the director more creative liberties since he has fewer people to answer to – a stance that I still stand by.

Finally, my faith in The Life of Chuck comes from Stephen King’s vote of confidence. King has a rule that he doesn’t like to give any director more than one property at a time, and Flanagan has worked on The Dark Tower for some time. Still, Flanagan begged for the rights to The Life of Chuck, saying it would be “the best movie I may ever make.” Although King initially denied Flanagan the rights, he eventually made an exception to his rule. I don’t think he would’ve given Flanagan the rights if he didn’t have full confidence that the director could handle The Life of Chuck.