"Permanent Midnight", his 1995 memoir, was adapted by Stahl into a 1998 film of the same name starring Ben Stiller that raised Stahl's profile and set the stage for his ongoing work in film. He wrote the screenplay for "Bad Boys II", which starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. His novels "Perv: A Love Story" and "Plainclothes Naked" enjoyed moderate success. "I, Fatty", a fictional autobiography of legendary movie comedian Roscoe Arbuckle received a favorable review from Thomas Mallon in "The New Yorker" and attracted attention from a variety of national media. According to Stahl, Johnny Depp has optioned the film rights for "I, Fatty". Stahl edited "The Heroin Chronicles" (Akashic Books 2013), a collection of stories by various authors.