Despite featuring Stephen King‘s most powerful characters, two adaptations of the author’s works failed to leave their mark. However, a new TV show based on a relatively recent novel by the King of Horror seems to redeem both failed movies in more ways than one.

Movie and television adaptations of Stephen King’s works are always exciting because almost all of them seem to have elements that would translate well to the screen. Unfortunately, despite having high adaptability value, many shows and films based on the author’s works struggle to perform well both critically and commercially.

Especially when it comes to television, it has been a while since a show based on a Stephen King story performed exceptionally well. One new TV series based on a six-year-old Stephen King book, however, seems to have the potential to change this trend and make up for the mistakes made by two failed movie adaptations.

Stephen King’s The Institute Show Is A Hit With Critics After Firestarter’s 2 Panned Adaptations

It Holds A Decent Rotten Tomatoes Score Of 69%

An adaptation of Stephen King’s The Institute is streaming on MGM+ and it already seems to be on the right path towards being far more successful than all the live-action takes on Firestarter. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 69%, The Institute is not exactly doing exceptionally well among critics.

However, compared to Firestarter‘s 1984 and 2022 movie adaptations, The Institute seems to be doing a significantly better job of capturing the essence of a story that primarily focuses on kids with psychic powers. Many Stephen King narratives seem to follow the familiar trope of featuring “gifted” children thrust into morally complex and tough situations.

Firestarter seems to be among the most popular examples of this trope in King’s line of work, but ironically, it is also one of the least successful in execution when it comes to live-action adaptations. The failed adaptions of Firestarter made it hard not to believe that Stephen King’s stories about children with supernatural abilities were destined to fail on the screen.

With its significantly better critical reception, The Institute seems to give hope that even a worthy Firestater adaption might someday see the light of day. While a new Firestarter adaptation will likely not be considered for quite some time, viewers can get a glimpse of how it could work by checking out The Institute on MGM+.

The Institute’s Success Helps Show How Another Firestarter Adaptation Can Work

The Institute Can Offer Many Lessons For Future Stephen King Adaptations

Perhaps The Institute‘s biggest advantage over Firestarter‘s movie adaptations is that it has more time to cover the original story. Its television format allows it to have a longer runtime, which leaves more room for fleshing out characters. Speaking of characters, The Institute starts focusing heavily on character development in its early moments instead of pleasing viewers with flashy visuals.

A show about kids with supernatural powers will eventually be expected to feature some spectacle, but The Institute wisely holds back and initially uses psychological tension and emotional drama to drive its story. Future adaptations of Stephen King’s Firestarter could do something similar to have a better shot at succeeding.

Both Firestarter adaptations of the original Stephen King‘s novel were also criticized for being too straightforward with their narratives and having nothing significant to say about human nature or morality. The Institute avoids repeating this issue by ensuring that it highlights the impact of power, control, and fear on young minds who are forced to endure immense pressure and exploitation.