I’m Super Excited For Stephen King’s Never Flinch. Here’s Everything You Need To Know About The New Holly Gibney Mystery

It feels like it was just yesterday that Stephen King successfully freaked out Constant Readers with the 12 tales of terror in the novella/short story collection You Like It Darker, but a full year has passed, and now we are on the precipice of getting our hands on the author’s latest work. Never Flinch is now less than two weeks away from arriving in stores, and while that doesn’t give you enough time to read/re-read all of Holly Gibney’s previous adventures, The King Beat is here to give you a quick rundown on everything you need to know.

A breakdown of what to expect from Never Flinch is just one story in this week’s packed column, which also includes information about of a new King adaptation from a talented genre writer, speculation about the first trailer for The Running Man, and news about a new King adaptation coming this year to 4K UHD. There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s dig in!

A Quick Holly Gibney Refresh Before The Release Of Stephen King’s Never Flinch

Like many Stephen King fans, I am hyped for the arrival of Never Flinch. I should be finished with my current book (I’m actually in the midst of reading King’s Insomnia) just in time for the new novel’s release date, and I plan on cracking open the hardcover as soon as it’s in my hands.

As prepared as I am for the new tome, though, I can appreciate that some of you may not be totally up to date on the five novels and one novella that constitutes the long history of Holly Gibney (a literary detective due for her own show) on the page. For your benefit, I thought I might use this week’s column for a quick rundown of everything you need to know about the new book.

Never Flinch is arriving in stores on May 27

Early summer is evidently the perfect season for new Holly Gibney stories. All three books in the Bill Hodges trilogy (where Holly was introduced) were published in early June, The Outsider came out in late May 2018, and If It Bleeds (featuring the novella of the same name) arrived in May 2020. Holly, which got a September 2023 publication, is an outlier, but now the tradition is back on track.

Unlike past Holly Gibney stories, Never Flinch is an Agatha Christie-esque mystery

Stephen King doesn’t traditionally write whodunit mysteries due to the fact that he never makes outlines and let’s stories and characters naturally guide him… but Never Flinch is a special case. King has seemed like a victim of his own muse in the writing of the book, which he describes as a “plotted novel.”

Holly Gibney will have a gig as a bodyguard in Never Flinch

Being a wisp of a woman with ticks and a fair amount of social anxiety, Holly Gibney isn’t a character who one would typically associate with the profession “bodyguard,” but that’s the position in which the obsessive private detective finds herself in the new book. The story will introduce a firebrand celebrity feminist who starts getting threats from a stalker and opts to hire Holly to help protect her.

The story will also feature a killer out for bloody revenge

While it’s not entirely clear pre-release how everything will weave together in the book, Never Flinch will also feature a plot line involving a recovering alcoholic with a vendetta against those who he deems responsible for the death of a friend who was sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Jerome And Barbara Robinson Are Back, And Both Of Them Are Published Authors

In Holly’s world, there are few closer to the detective than brother and sister Jerome and Barbara Robinson – and both are back and doing quite well in Never Flinch. The siblings are now both published authors, with Jerome responsible for a non-fiction best-seller and Barbara with a book of poems (which was a big part of her story in Holly).

Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more pieces about Never Flinch in the coming weeks (you can be sure I’ll be discussing it in upcoming King Beat columns), and if you need a Holly Gibney dose immediately, you can watch Mr. Mercedes with a Peacock subscription or check out The Outsider if you sign up for HBO Max.

What Is The Stephen King Project Being Developed By Final Destination: Bloodlines Writer Guy Busick?

In the last few years, screenwriter Guy Busick has established himself as an exciting talent in the horror genre. In 2019, he had what could be called his breakout, as he co-wrote the script for the brilliant horror comedy Ready Or Not and was a story editor and writer on Season 2 of Hulu’s terrific Stephen King adaptation/pastiche series Castle Rock. His credits since then have included the last two Scream movies, the underappreciated Abigail from last year, and Final Destination: Bloodlines (which is totally fantastic).

Keeping the success train going, Busick’s upcoming projects include the Ready Or Not sequel, Ready Or Not: Here I Come, and director Kevin Williamson’s Scream 7 – but what has recently been revealed is that he is also working on a mystery Stephen King adaptation.

When a studio releases a new movie, a packet of production notes is written to provide both background about the making of the feature and biographies about the actors and filmmakers, and Rue-Morgue discovered an interesting nugget in the Final Destination: Bloodlines notes about Guy Busick. The screenwriter’s bio includes mention of all the titles I mentioned above, but it also says that among his “next” projects is “a series adaptation of a Stephen King novel with Bad Robot.”

There obviously isn’t a whole lot of information to go on here, but if I had to pick a book that might be in discussion here, it would be the 2021 hitman drama Billy Summers – and that’s principally because Bad Robot first entered negotiations to make the novel as a limited series in 2022. Typically, I would think that this is a slam dunk guess… but it’s not. When the plans for a series were first announced, it was reported that Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz were attached to adapt, and then the project pivoted to becoming a feature almost exactly one year later in February 2023.

If Billy Summers is indeed the Stephen King project that Guy Busick is currently working on, it would mean that the adaptation has not only changed mediums a second time but that it has undergone a behind-the-scenes pivot in terms of vision.

Bad Robot, famously co-founded by J.J. Abrams, has a strong history when it comes to Stephen King adaptations, with the company’s filmography including the streaming shows Castle Rock, 11.22.63 and Lisey’s Story, so hopefully we’ll learn more about what Guy Busick is developing soon.

I’m Wondering If We Might Get Our First Public Look At Edgar Wright’s The Running Man Starring Glen Powell Before May Is Over

Time for some freewheeling speculation! Buckle up.

In recent weeks, Stephen King fans have been given great opportunity to get hyped for the amazing year of adaptations that is 2025. In mid-April, Constant Readers were first dazzled by the extended look at Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck (arriving in theaters on June 6), and last week I got include the trailer for Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk in my King Beat column. Both previews are amazing in their own special ways… and I’m hoping that the good times will keep rolling very soon with the arrival of the first public peek at writer/director Edgar Wright’s The Running Man starring Glen Powell.

To be fair, my evidence here is not exactly rock solid, and it more comes from my intuition, molded by a decade-and-a-half covering the film industry. When a major studio prepares to release what is expected to be one of its biggest titles of the year, it’s taken advantage of as an opportunity. If there’s a captive audience for one blockbuster, the moment is often seized to preview the next movie of similar ilk on the release calendar. And with Paramount Pictures set to deliver Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in theaters just in time for the Memorial Day weekend, I’m wondering if the door might be open for a debut Running Man trailer.

The Stephen King adaptation (or more accurately the Richard Bachman adaptation) isn’t the next title on Paramount’s slate after the last adventure of superspy Ethan Hunt – but the animated The Smurfs Movie (July 18), the comedy reboot Naked Gun (August 1), the crime dramedy Roofman (October 3) and the romantic drama Regretting You (October 24) don’t have the demographic overlap that is often desired in these circumstances. Not only does The Running Man fit the bill as a bold action/adventure film, promoting the movie alongside the release of Mission: Impossible also gives the studio the opportunity to maintain audience association between Tom Cruise and Glen Powell following their shared success in the making and release of Top Gun: Maverick.

Without any firm evidence to go on, I’m curious how things will play out. In one week’s time, I’ll either be thrilled that audiences are getting to preview the amazing footage that was showcased by Paramount at CinemaCon 2025 in early April, or I will be lamenting a missed opportunity. I’m hopeful that it will be the former.

Creepshow 2 Is Coming To 4K UHD In 2025 Thanks To Arrow Video

Being both a Stephen King fan and an avid physical media collector, I like to use this column as a venue for news that sees both of my interests crossover – and that often means reporting on King movies getting upgraded to 4K UHD. To date, 28 Stephen King movies and TV shows (counting the first season of Castle Rock) have been released on the highest quality format currently available on the home video market, and later this year, that number will be growing to 29.

Last Friday, Arrow Video posted a teaser video on Twitter previewing various titles they will be releasing on 4K UHD in 2025, and among the eight titles is director Michael Gornick’s Creepshow 2. The anthology film from 1987 features a triptych of horror tales (not including the prologue, interludes and epilogue), and while George A. Romero wrote the screenplay, Stephen King has a Stories By credit, and the best segment in the film – “The Raft” – is based on the King short story of the same name.

This is the second time that Arrow Video has provided King fans with an upgrade to Creepshow 2, as the company distributed a 2K restoration of the film on Blu-ray in 2016 – the discs also including a terrific number of special features including a director audio commentary and multiple featurettes.

As exciting as the announcement is, the Creepshow 2 4K UHD doesn’t have a release date yet or any specs available, but we’ll hopefully get more news about the plans for the film soon.

That wraps up this diverse edition of The King Beat, but I’ll be back next Thursday here on CinemaBlend with a fresh feature full of the latest headlines from the world of Stephen King.