Rob Reiner Said He’d Like to be Remembered for This Stephen King Classic

Rob Reiner Said He’d Like to be Remembered for This Stephen King Classic Rob Reiner in The BearImage via FX By  Shawn Van Horn Published 52 minutes ago Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies. Sign in to your Collider account Add Us On Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

It has been a very sad week for film fans as we still try to process the tragic death of Rob Reiner. If there's any solace to be found, it's that his work will live on for generations, with the famed director responsible for a long line of classics like This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and A Few Good Men. There are so many great movies to choose from as your personal favorite, but for Reiner himself, one stood above the rest as the movie that meant the most to him. 1986's Stand by Me, based on a Stephen King novella, is not only perhaps the greatest coming-of-age film ever made, but it's the one Rob Reiner wanted to be remembered for after he was gone.

What Is 'Stand by Me' About?

Stand by Me is the feature film adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 novella The Body, which was part of the Different Seasons collection. Hearing the name Stephen King might immediately think you're getting into something horrific, but while Rob Reiner would eventually adapt another, more King-like work in 1990 with Misery, Stand by Me is much different. This is not a horror movie, but a beautiful and sometimes tragic coming-of-age film, which Collider has ranked as the second-best offering in the genre.

The story revolves around a group of young friends in 1959 living in King's fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. When they hear about the dead body rumored to be found by the railroad tracks, the boys go on a journey to find it. Starring future acting heavyweights like River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Will Wheaton, and Kiefer Sutherland, Stand by Me was a box office and critical success. Not only did it make $53 million in theaters worldwide, but it has a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Four decades later, it remains one of Rob Reiner's best movies and one of the greatest adaptations of King's half-century of work.

'Stand by Me' Most Represented Who Rob Reiner Was

Just three months ago, in September, Rob Reiner was a guest on Piers Morgan Uncensored, where the host asked the iconic director which of his films he wanted to be remembered for the most. For Reiner, the answer was easy.

I always say Stand by Me, to me, is the one that meant the most to me. I don't know that it's the best. You know, it's for other people to decide. But it's the one that meant the most to me because it really is an extension of my personality and my sensibility. It has a mixture of humor and melancholy and emotion, and it's something that is closest to me of all the films I've done."

Related One of Rob Reiner’s Most Rewatchable Masterpieces Is Having a Streaming Resurgence

The movie was a part of an all-time hot streak for the late filmmaker.

Posts By  Rahul Malhotra

Although only Rob Reiner can convey what Stand by Me meant to him personally, what he said about the film's attributes rings true. It's a simple movie, with four friends going on a journey to find a dead body, and no Stephen King-type twist with the body coming back to life, or some horrific monster being stumbled upon. Instead, it's a path of deeper discovery, with kids who feel like us at that age, no matter your gender. They're funny in the way they tease each other, there is emotion when their own worries are displayed, and Kiefer Sutherland's character, an older troubled teen, shows what could one day wait for them if they're not careful. Stand by Me is about the end of childhood innocence, told by Reiner in a way that will both warm your heart and break it.

The Film Made Stephen King More Emotional Than He Could Handle

Wil Wheaton, Jerry O'Connell, Cory Feldman, and River Phoenix sitting on a car in Stand by Me.Image via Columbia Pictures

So what did Stephen King think of Stand by Me? After all, he has not always been the biggest fan of adaptations of his writing. Just ask him his opinion about Stanley Kubrick's The Shining! It's an answerable question because, as news of Reiner's death broke, King did what he does best and wrote out his feelings for his fallen friend in an essay published by The New York Times.

In 1985, months before Stand by Me would be released, Rob Reiner invited the author to watch a rough cut of the movie with him at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Watching his vision come to life on the screen affected King so much that he embraced the director in a hug. King wrote, “I’m not ordinarily a hugging man, and I don’t think he was used to getting them. He stiffened, muttered something about being glad I liked it, and we both stepped away.”

King wasn't done feeling the emotions of seeing a story that meant so much to him brought to life so brilliantly, writing, “I went into the nearest men’s bathroom and sat in a stall until I got myself under control." The horror novelist wrote that the inherent nostalgia Reiner had captured is what got to him. It's an easy-to-understand emotion. Stand by Me might be set in 1959 and released in 1986, but whenever you grew up, it's impossible to watch and not feel every part of it, as if it's happening to you and transporting you back to your youth. What Rob Reiner captured was so powerful that it even made the man behind many of our nightmares weep. Stand by Me can't get a better review than that.

Stand by Me is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

Stand by Me

Like R Crime Drama Release Date August 22, 1986 Runtime 89 minutes Director Rob Reiner Writers Raynold Gideon, Bruce A. Evans, Stephen King Producers Andrew Scheinman

Cast

See All

• Wil Wheaton Gordie Lachance
• River Phoenix Chris Chambers

Genres Crime, Drama Powered by Expand Collapse

• Movie Features
• Rob Reiner
• Stephen King

Follow Followed Like Share Facebook X WhatsApp Threads Bluesky LinkedIn Reddit Flipboard Copy link Email Close

What To Watch

July 20, 2025 The 72 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now Trending Now Miles Teller’s Tragic Year Is Ending in a Much Better Place The 25 Best Movies About Mother-Son Relationships, Ranked 3:17 The 25 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked