Why Insomnia Deserves To Be The Next Stephen King Movie Adaptation

Horror master Stephen King‘s1994 horror-fantasy novel Insomnia deserves a movie adaptation. The book, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel the year it was released, has numerous classic King story elements that would certainly transfer well to the big screen. The story of Insomnia centers on the character Ralph Roberts, who is a retired widower. Ralph suffers from severe insomnia; he keeps waking up from his sleep during the night. Each night, he awakes earlier and earlier, and eventually starts living off of barely an hour of sleep each night.

As his situation gets worse, Ralph begins to see strange phenomena, like color manifestations – or auras – of people and strange white-coated creatures he refers to as “little bald doctors.” Soon enough, he realizes what he’s seeing are things from another level of reality. As the book goes on, things get exciting and scary; a villain named “the Crimson King” – who feeds on fear and grief – attempts to undo the entire order of the universe. It turns out Ralph, along with his friend Lois, must intervene to help save the day.

The book has several themes and lessons posed throughout its pages. Abortion, for example, is one of several hot-button issues King touches on throughout the story, which opens the door for Insomnia to fit into the popular social and political horror trend. In the second half of Insomnia, things get more action-packed as Ralph fights a character on a plane and survives a crash by entering a different reality. Viewers could easily be on the edges of their seats if they saw these events on the screen, and would surely be chilled by the story’s ending. These elements, and more, make Insomnia the perfect book to be turned into a movie, especially given the success other King adaptations have enjoyed in recent years.

The book Insomnia has many connections to other King works, so fans of the author’s other movie and TV show adaptations would certainly be pleased with those references, if they were to be included in the movie. For one, the book takes place in the infamous fictional town of Derry, Maine. Pennywise, the evil clown from IT, is oft mentioned in the book; the Crimson King shares many qualities with Pennywise – like shape-shifting and taking the form(s) of whatever people fear – and even makes references to the events of IT. [On a separate note, many King fans think the Crimson King is Pennywise – or at least related to him.] The Crimson King also directly ties Insomnia to King’s Dark Tower series of books, in which he’s a key villain. Plus, Ralph has visions of the Dark Tower itself.Insomnia also includes references to Gerald’s Game and Pet Sematary. The movie would certainly be perfect for another famous Stephen King cameo.

In recent years, there’s been a slew of television and movie adaptations of Stephen King works, as well as remakes of older adaptations, like Pet Sematary and Carrie. Some of these adaptations ended up being panned by critics, but many of them have been welcomed and acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. To mention just a handful of them: The Dark Tower was released in 2017, IT in 2017 and its sequel in 2019, and Gerald’s Game in 2017. Given the seemingly everlasting status of King’s enduring popularity, his stories seem to not go out of style. As adaptations of his works are arguably more popular than ever, now is the perfect time to adapt one of his lesser-known works.

If the lead part of the protagonist, Ralph, were to go to a high-profile actor, the movie version of Stephen King‘sInsomnia could draw additional appeal. Mainstream releases tend to rely on A-list cast members to boost chances of success, but King’s name still carries weight on its own. Plus, the visual elements described in the book would look great on the big screen; the auras and the various beings Ralph encounters could be designed expertly with CGI. Overall, Ralph is a relatable character who could earn new appreciation in a movie version. Insomnia‘s enthralling story of an ordinary man’s supernatural journey also would be relatable to a broad audience, which is always a good target to hit.

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