Wil Wheaton is lending his voice to a new audiobook edition of Stephen King’s novella The Body, Simon & Schuster Audio announced in a news release.
King’s novella, published by Viking in 1982 as part of the collection Different Seasons, follows a group of boys in 1960 Maine who go in search of the body of a missing boy who’s thought to have been hit by a train.
The novella was adapted into a 1986 film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell. Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans were nominated for an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for the movie, widely considered an iconic coming-of-age film.
Wheaton, also known for his roles on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Big Bang Theory, and Leverage, is a prolific audiobook narrator. His previous credits include Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, Bill Gates’ Source Code, and Cory Doctorow’s Homeland.
In a video on Simon & Schuster Audio’s Instagram account, Wheaton said, “I am in a booth…recording something that I have been trying to get permission to narrate for literal years. It has been such an incredible journey to get here, and it happened at exactly the right time.…I’m working with the original text and telling [King’s] original story. This is such an incredible gift for me. This is very much a dream come true. I have been trying for so long to be right here, right now, and it’s finally happening.”
The audiobook edition of The Body is scheduled for release on March 24.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
