Stephen King Hypes Up OG Stand By Me Actor Reprising Role For New Adaptation 40 Years Later

by

A member of the original cast of the beloved film Stand By Me is appearing in a new version of the classic coming-of-age story. The story began as a novella called The Body, written by Stephen King in 1982. Director Rob Reiner, who sadly recently passed away, then turned it into the movie Stand By Me just four years later.

It’s been forty years since Wil Wheaton played Gordie Lachance in the movie Stand By Me, and now he’s revisiting Stephen King’s work by narrating the audiobook of The Body to mark the anniversary.

Stephen King used X (formerly Twitter) to share the news about Wheaton’s involvement in the audiobook version of The Body, which comes out on March 24th and is available for pre-order. King posted, “Experience the story that impacted a whole generation.”

King shared a video on social media of Wheaton happily announcing he’d been given the chance to narrate the audiobook of The Body. The actor revealed he’d been asking for permission to do so for years and described the journey to finally being able to share the news as incredible.

I’m so thrilled for Wheaton! He said getting to narrate the audiobook is a total dream come true, and he feels incredibly lucky to be able to share King’s story with everyone this way. It really means a lot to him.

Hey everyone! I’m recording in the same booth where I do Storytime With Wil Wheaton, and I’m so excited because it’s a project I’ve been wanting to do for years. It feels like perfect timing! I’m narrating Stephen King’s The Body – you might know it as the book Stand By Me is based on – and I’m working directly from his original story. This is a real dream come true, and I’m so grateful to finally be doing it.

Richard Wheaton acted in the movie Stand By Me with Jerry O’Connell, Corey Feldman, and River Phoenix. The story follows a group of friends as they search for the remains of a missing boy. Along the way, the film explores themes of friendship, dealing with difficult experiences, bullying, growing up, and the realities of death.

Despite a modest $8 million budget, Stand By Me was a box office success, earning over $52 million. It also received significant recognition from award shows, including nominations for an Oscar (Best Adapted Screenplay), two Golden Globes (Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director), and awards from the Writers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America.

The National Board of Review also named Stand By Me one of the Top 10 films of 1986.

By 1986, Corey Wheaton had already acted in a number of movies and TV shows, but his role in Stand By Me really launched his career. He quickly followed that success by becoming known for playing Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Following his departure from the science fiction series, the actor continued to work in movies and made appearances on popular TV shows, including Tales from the Crypt, The Love Boat: The Next Wave, Diagnosis: Murder, CSI, Criminal Minds, Dark Matter, Supergirl, and S.W.A.T.

Wil Wheaton appeared in multiple episodes of The Big Bang Theory and later returned to the Star Trek universe by reprising his role as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: Picard.

Wil Wheaton has narrated audiobooks many times before, including popular titles like Ready Player One, Ready Player Two, Armada, Redshirts, and The Martian. This isn’t his first time taking on this role.

Having already appeared in the film version of Stand By Me, he’s now prepared to reimagine Stephen King’s The Body with a fresh take.

Read More

2026-02-03 02:21