A 1990 American film based on the book and bearing the same name was directed by Rob Reiner and starred James Caan, Kathy Bates and the late Richard Farnsworth. The film was a critical and commercial success, making $61,276,872 (USA) domestically on a $20,000,000 budget. Kathy Bates won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of the psychotic Annie Wilkes.
The plot revolves around novelist Paul Sheldon (Caan) who crashes his car in a winter storm and is badly injured. His rescuer, Annie Wilkes (Bates), takes him to her secluded country home to be cared for by her personally. As luck would have it, Annie is Paul's "biggest fan" and eagerly awaits all his publications. As time passes, however, Paul realizes that there is a flip side of the coin as well: Annie is psychotic and has no intention of letting him go.
Annie Wilkes was voted the 17th greatest villain of all-time by the American Film Institute in their special feature AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains.