Stephen King and son Owen’s novel ‘Sleeping Beauties’ to get TV adaptation by AMC

AMC is planning to adapt “Sleeping Beauties,” a novel by Stephen King and son Owen King, as a television series.

The cable network has ordered a pilot script for the planned series, which Owen King will write.

The bestselling 2017 novel by the father-son duo, their first collaboration, tells the story of a mysterious disease that causes all of the women in the world to fall asleep and become shrouded in cocoons. If the women are disturbed while sleeping, they awaken and become violent.

Both Kings told Deadline they were excited about the planned adaptation. “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,” Stephen King said.

Owen King said they were “so happy” to be working with AMC and producers Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta. “We can’t imagine a better match.”

Sugar and Zalta are slated to produce the series along with Anonymous Content, the Los Angeles-based entertainment company that has produced shows such as “The OA” and “Maniac.”

“Sleeping Beauties” is the latest in a long line of Stephen King books to get film or television adaptations. Earlier this month, Apple announced that it had ordered a limited-series adaptation of “Lisey’s Story,” King’s 2006 novel, with King writing all the episodes. J.J. Abrams is producing that series, with Julianne Moore set to star.

Last month, actors Sam Strike and Jasper Paakkonen joined the cast of Amazon’s planned adaptation of King’s “Dark Tower” book series.

Other upcoming adaptations of King’s works include film versions of his 2013 novel “Doctor Sleep” and his 2012 novella “In the Tall Grass,” which he co-wrote with his elder son, Joe Hill.

The most recent King adaptation to hit the big screen is “Pet Sematary,” based on the author’s 1983 novel. Writing for The Times, critic Justin Chang said of the film: “[The directors’] command of the grammar of the mainstream horror movie is more than solid. The problem is that said grammar ultimately feels crude and disproportionate to the story they’re trying to tell.”