2. The Long Walk (1979)
Why It Should Be A Movie...The Long Walk was one of the first novels to tap into the terrifying game show sensibilities that would later inspire works like
Battle Royale,The Hunger Games, and King's own
The Running Man. Of all those novels, I think that this one remains the best - dark, haunting and relentlessly paced, it follows a group of boys who enters a walking competition in the near future. If they stop, they're shot. The last boy wins whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Filled with a great ensembles and cling to a concept that remains as relevant today as it was when King wrote first wrote it, there's potential here for a low-budget arty endeavour or a costly blockbuster.
Why It Never Will Be... Because it's a book that, almost invariably, consists of characters walking - once they get started, they don't stop at all. Ever. Although that could certainly work on the big screen if handled right (take a look at a movie like
Buried, for example, which has a character trapped in box for runtime), I don't know that anyone would be willing to take the risk of trying to get into bed with a movie that never stops to breathe. Frank Darabont has had the rights to this one for 7 years, but has yet to make progress, presumably stumped as to how to make it work.