Posted in: Audio Dramas, TV | Tagged: Stand by Me, stephen king, The Body, wil wheaton

The Body: Stand by Me's Wil Wheaton to Read for Stephen King Audiobook

Author Stephen King announced his original novella, The Body, will be read by Stand Be Me star Wil Wheaton for an audiobook adaptation.

Things have come full circle for actor Wil Wheaton, who's coming back to his earliest signature project in Stephen King's The Body, which was adapted by Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans into Rob Reiner's Stand By Me in 1986. Wheaton played Gordon "Gordie " Lachance (with Richard Dreyfus playing his older counterpart) in the film that follows the character in his youth in summer 1960 in Castle Rock, Maine as he's joined by his three friends Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman), and Vern (Jerry O'Connell) as they set off to find a missing boy, who's presumed dead, and locate his body. King announced on social media, along with the video from the Star Trek: The Next Generation star, writing, "Listen to the story that shaped a generation. Decades after starring in Stand By Me, the film adaptation of THE BODY, Wil Wheaton lends his voice to an all-new recording of the audiobook. Pre-order your copy and start listening March 24, 2026."

Stand By Me Star Wil Wheaton to Read the Audiobook Version of Stephen King's The Body

"Hi, friends," Wheaton begins with his cup of coffee. "I'm in the booth, the same booth where I do Storytime with Wil Wheaton, as it turns out, recording something that I have been trying to get permission to narrate for literal years. It's been such an incredible journey to get here, and it happened at exactly the right time. I am narrating The Body by Stephen King, which was adapted into Stand by Me, and I'm working with the original text, telling his original story. This is such an incredible gift for me. This is very much a dream come true. I've been trying for so long to be here right here, right now, and it's finally happening."

King wrote The Body in 1982 as a novella before Sony's Columbia Pictures adapted it as a coming-of-age film featuring the young cast that also includes Kiefer Sutherland. The young core of Wheaton, Phoenix, Feldman, O'Connell, and Sutherland would go on to become success stories in Hollywood. The film, which became a box office success, helped become a watershed moment for the late director as Stand By Me would be Reiner's first of several Oscar-nominated films throughout his career, with star Kathy Bates winning for King's Misery in 1990. In addition to acting, Wheaton has become accomplished in his other ventures, from hosting the Star Trek-post episode web series The Ready Room to reading audiobooks by other popular novelists, including Ernest Cline, Andy Weir, John Scalzi, and more.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!