AMC developing adaptation of Owen & Stephen King’s Sleeping Beauties

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Another day, another Stephen King project. Deadline reports that AMC has made a pilot script commitment for an "open ended" TV series based upon "Sleeping Beauties," the best-selling novel written by Stephen King and Owen King.

Sleeping Beauties takes place in the near future where something has caused all the women in the world to fall asleep and become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If the gauze is disturbed or the women are awakened, they become feral and incredibly violent, but while they sleep, they go to another place, a better place, where harmony prevails and conflict is rare. One woman, named Eve, seems to be immune to the sleeping disease. Owen King will write the pilot script, with Sugar 23’s Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta set to executive produce. "Owen and Stephen King found the perfect canvas to tell a haunting and gripping story that sparks a relevant conversation about gender equality and individuality," said Ashley Zalta, Sugar 23’s Head of Production and EP. "We couldn’t be more excited about this collaboration with the Kings and with AMC, who have so often boldly redefined genres." Owen King said, "We’re so happy to be working with Michael, Ashley, and AMC on Sleeping Beauties. We can’t imagine a better match," with Stephen King adding, "I’m tremendously excited to see Sleeping Beauties brought to life in a format that will allow the story to be told as it was meant to be told, in all its mystery and drama."

A synopsis of "Sleeping Beauties" via Amazon:

In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep: they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent. And while they sleep they go to another place, a better place, where harmony prevails and conflict is rare. One woman, the mysterious “Eve Black,” is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease. Is Eve a medical anomaly to be studied? Or is she a demon who must be slain? Abandoned, left to their increasingly primal urges, the men divide into warring factions, some wanted to kill Eve, some to save her. Others exploit the chaos to wreak their own vengeance on new enemies. All turn to violence in a suddenly all-male world. Set in a small Appalachian town whose primary employer is a woman’s prison, Sleeping Beauties is a wildly provocative, gloriously dramatic father-son collaboration that feels particularly urgent and relevant today.

There are quite a few Stephen King TV projects either airing or in development, including Audience’s Mr. Mercedes, Hulu’s Castle Rock, CBS All Access’ The Stand, Shudder’s Creepshow, HBO’s The Outsider, Amazon's The Dark Tower, and Apple TV's Lisey's Story. I've probably missed a few.