Over three decades ago, filmmaker Steven Spielberg picked up the rights to Stephen King and Peter Straub’s 1984 fantasy novel “The Talisman” before it was published. At the time he had a script commissioned but nothing came of it.

The story follows a twelve-year-old boy who goes on a quest for the mystical Talisman which can save his dying mother. But to reach his goal, Jack must make his way not only across the breadth of the United States but also through the wondrous and menacing parallel world of ‘The Territories’.

Speaking with EW this week, both King and Spielberg discussed the project and how Spielberg might be ready to finally adapt it. King says Spielberg has come close several times to making it, to which Spielberg himself then added:

“I feel that in the very near future, that’s going to be our richest collaboration. Universal bought the book for me, so it wasn’t optioned. It was an outright sale of the book…I’ve owned the book since ’82, and I’m hoping to get this movie made in the next couple of years. I’m not committing to the project as a director, I’m just saying that it’s something that I’ve wanted to see come to theaters for the last 35 years.”

That comment suggests he will produce the film and hand the directing reins over to someone else. Famed producer Frank Marshall was attached at one point to direct as well.

The talk comes as King’s work has become a hot property again, though the success of “IT” and “Gerald’s Game” and the disappointment of “The Dark Tower” suggests the appetite there is for his classic horror work as opposed to his fantasy fare. New adaptations of “Pet Sematary” and “The Tommyknockers” are on the way, while “IT: Chapter Two” is set to begin filming shortly.