While we’re probably not seeing this project in the lineup of upcoming 2025 TV shows, it’s hard not to get excited about Mike Flanagan’s Carrie adaptation for Prime Video. If you ask me, part of the novelty of readapting Stephen King’s 1974 debut novel is what a modern version of this oft told tale would look like.
Despite the existence of three movies, a legacy-quel, and a musical, the horror master behind The Fall of the House of Usher has apparently found a new way in. And it’s something that, while being uber secretive, has led to some major questions, as well as a reaction from King himself.
Mike Flanagan And Stephen King Had The Same Question About A(nother) Carrie Remake
It’s clearly known that Mike Flanagan is no stranger to adapting the works of Stephen King, as his showrunner duties on the next Carrie marks his fourth turn of the wheel with the author. So when I knew I was sitting down with him to talk up his Macabre Spirits novella “Rare, Fine & Limited,” my colleague and Stephen King beat correspondent Eric Eisenberg suggested I get more into what’s going on with this still surprising new project.
In his own way, Flanagan seemed as surprised as anyone that Carrie White will be going to the prom again. But as he shared with CinemaBlend, it was all due this most important question being answered in the right way:
One of the only questions I had when it was first put on the table was ‘Why?’, and if I couldn't answer ‘Why do this again?’ for myself, then there was no point in pursuing the project. It's the same muscle. I will say that it's the same feeling I had when we approached The Turn of the Screw, which had been adapted dozens of times. And it's like, ‘Okay, how do we do this completely differently?’
Mike Flanagan, CinemaBlend
Going into his answer for that question, the Doctor Sleep director agreed that this latest project absolutely had to stand out in some way. As I’d alluded to in the opening, the world still very much has Brian De Palma’s 1976 Carrie to enjoy, with Sissy Spacek’s haunting central performance.
Not to mention there was the infamous 1988 stage musical, with numbers like “And Eve Was Weak” to call its own, as well as NBC’s 2002 TV movie and director Kimberly Pierce’s 2013 remake. So if you're keeping score at home, that's four variants of Carrie for you to compare and contrast.
By the time you circle back to throw in The Rage: Carrie 2 from 1999, you can begin to see why there's so much history sitting on Mike Flanagan’s shoulders. Though it sounds like Amazon MGM Studios put its faith in the man who's also set to reinvent The Exorcist in the near future, as this project appears to have been initiated by an ask from the production company.
That sort of trust makes those first steps to approach this new incarnation even more crucial. Flanagan was reminded of the factors that potentially stood against him when presenting this top secret idea to Stephen King; which saw the showrunner’s concerns mirrored through the author’s trademark blend of blunt truth as follows:
His first question was also mine. … Steve's first reaction was, ‘Why do that again?’
Mike Flanagan, CinemaBlend
Clearly there was something to this idea that got the Hush director into the game. But how did he get Stephen King to sign off, and what was his first reaction to the pitch? Well, that's the next part of the story, as Mike Flanagan has started to lay the groundwork on what Carrie White's new coat of telekinetic paint will involve.
Stephen King’s First Reaction To The New Carrie Adaptation, According To Mike Flanagan
To say that Carrie is a closely guarded secret with Mike Flanagan is to put it lightly. In the midst of our interview, he reinforced how he didn’t want to put too much on the board when it came to Carrie White’s latest resurgence. That being said, the bits that the Oculus mastermind felt safe in sharing started this portion of Stephen King’s reaction:
I can't spoil our approach to Carrie only to reassure people we are not retreading the same story. It is definitely a new approach to the material, and one that Stephen King is excited about which is also important to me.
Mike Flanagan, CinemaBlend
Stephen King is not one to mince words on how he feels about an adaptation of his work. Anybody familiar with King’s feelings on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining could probably quote chapter and verse the problems the iconic scribe has with the beloved horror film. So hearing that another Carrie has made the man must mean even more to the Constant Readers who are deep fans of his canon of work.
Reinforcing the question that both he and Stephen King had firmly in their minds, Mike Flanagan told me how he earned that sort of enthusiasm. And with that, the helmer of Gerald’s Game continued to tease his fellow King fans with this anecdote:
It's been done and it's been done beautifully, arguably perfectly by De Palma and then done again for ‘reasons.’, Why do it again now? And so when he went through the proposal that I put together for it, his reaction was, oh, this is actually very exciting to him. And then I said, ‘Okay, if he's excited, then we should do this.’ But otherwise I wouldn't have done it. … It will be a very pleasant surprise for fans.
Mike Flanagan, CinemaBlend
Though the actual details on Carrie are a bit light at the moment, that’s not to say there isn’t more to be said on the matter. In fact, while researching this post-interview write-up, I actually came across some other remarks that further flesh out what the modern Chamberlain, Maine would feel like. I think it’s safe to say that my enthusiasm for this project is stoked even more by the details I’m about to share with you.
The Carrie Changes Mike Flanagan Has Hinted At So Far
Modernizing a well known literary source is tricky, no matter how you slice it. Not everybody knows how to set Shakespeare in a time period that’s comparatively more contemporary, but every now and then we get something as beautiful as Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet.
In the case of Mike Flanagan’s resume, we’ve been treated to shows like The Haunting of Bly Manor (his take on Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw”), or his final Netflix related project The Fall of the House of Usher. Both have taken older works from the likes of James, or Edgar Allen Poe, and found a doorway into the meaning of the text, while also updating characters and settings for a contemporary audience.
While Carrie might feel like an easier opportunity, seeing as it’s only been 50 years since the original incarnation of this teenage drama. That assumption only holds up until one realizes that nailing the reality of modern teenagers is quite possibly one of the most harrowing undertakings for an adult creative. And yet, in a recent interview for MovieWeb, Mike Flanagan once again showed his knack for storytelling with these notes:
Carrie White walking through a metal detector is interesting to me. Carrie White with social media. The iconic scene in the locker room is very different when people have phones in their hands. So that was the first germ of an idea, like, there is room for this to actually have a lot to say that's very relevant. And I can't spoil the changes that we made in order to kind of find a story that felt like it needed to be told. But we made some pretty substantial changes.
Mike Flanagan, MovieWeb
We’re not going to learn all that much about Mike Flanagan’s Carrie, and to be honest, I’m perfectly fine with that. As someone who loved how he stuck the landing on adapting Doctor Sleep in a way that honored both Stephen King’s source material and Stanley Kubrick’s previous film, I am ravenous for more details on what Flanagan is up to.
Don’t worry Flana-fans, there’s plenty of other projects to reflect on as we wait for time to reveal these secrets to us. Should you want to watch the previous series from the Netflix era of Mike Flanagan, having a Netflix subscription will definitely come in handy. And while The Life of Chuck is being eyed for a summer 2025 release, you won’t have to wait that long for the writer/director’s next project.
If you preorder a bottle of Rare, Fine & Limited Reposado Tequila from Macabre Spirits, you’ll be able to read the exclusive novella that gives that bottle its name. As someone who has read Mike Flanagan’s first foray into literary madness, I highly recommend doing so.
That product is slated to ship in January 2025 though, so you’ll still need to be patient. Which just means there’s plenty of time for you to read more of our own Eric Eisenberg’s work over at The King Beat. New installments drop every Thursday, and that’s the place you want to be to learn about all things that serve the beat.
