Mike Flanagan has become Netflix's master of horror thanks to his string of scary streaming hits, starting with The Haunting of Hill House in 2018, followed by The Haunting of Bly Manor in 2020, and then Midnight Mass in 2021. He has two more ventures already on the way, including The Fall of the House of Usher as an adaption of the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name. That upcoming series has wrapped production in Vancouver, and the creator shared a heartfelt message in honor of the occasion, with House of Usher star Mark Hamill chiming in!
After the initial announcement of The Fall of the House of Usher back in fall of 2021, Mike Flanagan revealed that production kicked off at the end of January 2022, with him directing. Production wrapped on July 9, and he wasted no time in taking to Twitter with a message about the experience:
A few minutes ago we wrapped production on THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, closing a huge chapter of my life. I've worked in Vancouver almost nonstop since BLY MANOR in 2019. We made 4 series in 3 years, only taking a short break for the COVID lockdown in early 2020. BLY MANOR, MIDNIGHT MASS, MIDNIGHT CLUB & HOUSE OF USHER were each profoundly challenging. Three of those shows were produced during the pandemic, amid ever-shifting safety protocols designed to keep our huge casts and crews safe. It's been a privilege to work with some wonderful collaborators, actors, directors, storytellers, crew, family and friends for so long, over THIRTY-FOUR EPISODES of television – the most difficult and rewarding work of my life.
Mike Flanagan not only revealed that production on his Edgar Allan Poe adaptation has wrapped, but that it closes "a huge chapter" of his life after producing four series in three years in Vancouver, British Columbia. Bly Manor and Midnight Mass have already released, with Midnight Club (which released a chilling first look back in June) and House of Usher still on the way. Like many other productions, the COVID lockdowns caused delays, but four shows in three years in incredibly impressive, pandemic or no pandemic.
The creator went on to comment that he expects that he'll be back in Vancouver at some point, but wrapping House of Usher feels like "the end of a very specific chapter." He also shouted out Star Wars legend Mark Hamill as one of his heroes, who joined the cast of his upcoming show. For his part, Hamill responded with a tweet of his own:
No comment since I've taken a vow of secrecy for @flanaganfilm's THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER.Here's all you need to know in six words: Mike Flanagan does Edgar Allan Poe.#NuffSaid https://t.co/C2DOfZh1geJuly 9, 2022
Hamill didn't drop any spoilers about what's on the way with The Fall of the House of Usher or how his character will play into the plot, but he still found a way to hype what's on the way. It is safe to say that Hamill's character won't be filling the role of Roderick Usher from Poe's story, as Roderick was already cast and then recast, after Frank Langella was fired due to a misconduct investigation and then replaced by The Resident's Bruce Greenwood.
Of course, if The Haunting of Bly Manor is any indication, fans shouldn't go into the Edgar Allan Poe adaptation expecting it to 100% stick to canon. Bly Manor was based on the novella called The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, but there were some significant departures. Bly Manor also proved that a show doesn't have to be entirely accurate to the source material to deliver plenty of excellent twists and turns.
The production of The Fall of the House of Usher had had some twists and turns, although not the kind that anybody would have wanted. The Trial of the Chicago 7 actor Frank Langella was originally cast to play Roderick Usher, but he was fired in April when the show was around halfway through production. Although filming was able to continue for the rest of the cast members, the footage featuring Langella had to be reshot.
Bruce Greenwood was already an alum of Mike Flanagan projects, so he seemed like a natural pick to fill the role after the recast, and he joined an ensemble filled with familiar faces from the Haunting shows and Midnight Mass, as well as newcomers like Mark Hamill.
The only bad news following Mike Flanagan's heartfelt message about the upcoming show wrapping production is that there's no premiere date at the time of writing. Netflix subscribers can look forward to his fourth streaming show coming in just a few more months. The Midnight Club will premiere on Friday, October 7 in the 2022 TV premiere schedule.
