Mike Flanagan is being pointed toward Insomnia as his next Stephen King adaptation, and the fit starts with Ralph, the retiree whose worsening sleeplessness makes him see people’s auras. That premise gives Flanagan the kind of character-driven engine he has used before, while also tying the novel to the wider Stephen King web around Derry, Maine.
Published in 1994 and running just under 800 pages, Insomnia is one of King’s larger swings. It follows Ralph as his condition opens into a secret world and an existential struggle between Purpose and the Random, which is exactly the sort of layered material that gives a filmmaker room to balance horror, fantasy, and drama without reducing the story to a single scare.
Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep
Flanagan’s King record is mixed in the way studio executives tend to notice. He drew critical acclaim for Gerald's Game in 2017, then followed with Doctor Sleep in 2019, a release that struggled at the box office and divided critics. That split matters here because it shows he can translate King’s interior writing, but not every adaptation has delivered the commercial lift that usually quiets sequel-era skepticism.
The Life of Chuck in 2024 complicated the picture again. The film won over critics, but it failed to recoup its modest $20 million budget, so the argument for Insomnia is less about raw market heat than about fit. Flanagan has already shown he can handle King when the material leans on grief, dread, and human fragility instead of just plot mechanics.
Derry, Maine and Purpose
Set in IT’s fictional town of Derry, Maine, Insomnia plugs into King continuity without needing a gimmick to do it. Ralph’s ability to perceive auras, his worsening insomnia, and the book’s clash between Purpose and the Random give the story enough internal movement to sustain a long-form adaptation, while also making it a natural bridge to the larger King mythology Flanagan keeps circling.
That connection is the real reason this suggestion lands now. Will Mike Flanagan use Insomnia as the next King project, or keep the title as a strong-fit argument while he moves through the work already on deck? The answer will shape how much of King’s sprawling canon he tries to connect through one adaptation run.
After Carrie in October
Flanagan is set to adapt Carrie for Prime Video, with The Dark Tower series in the works for Prime Video after Carrie in October 2026. Brian De Palma’s 1976 Carrie remains the benchmark as a smash hit, and that history gives Flanagan a clear commercial and critical gauntlet before any move toward Insomnia becomes more than a case made on paper. For now, the smart read is that Insomnia is less a scheduled project than the most persuasive next test of his King streak.
