Horror maestro Mike Flanagan has been quite busy ever since wrapping up his and Trevor Macy‘s overall deal with Netflix with the acclaimed Fall of the House of Usher adaptation in 2023. Last year saw him return to theaters with his third Stephen King adaptation, The Life of Chuck, after it was showered with praise at the Toronto International Film Festival, but the future looks even brighter. He’s now part of two massive franchises between the DCU, where he served as the writer of James Watkins‘ upcoming Clayface movie, and The Exorcist, where he’s crafting a new installment led by Scarlett Johansson at Blumhouse Atomic Monster. For those looking forward to his return to television, though, the wait is nearly over.
Back in March, news broke that the mastermind behind Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House, and Doctor Sleep had inked an overall television deal with Amazon MGM Studios with his Red Room Pictures banner, coming a few years after he initially signed as part of Macy’s Intrepid Pictures. He’s wasting no time on that pact either, as later this year, his much-anticipated series adaptation of King‘s debut novel Carrie is due to release on Prime Video. It’ll follow the familiar story of misfit teenager Carrie White, played by Curse of Chucky alum Summer Howell, who lives a sheltered life under her strict mother and is subjected to merciless bullying in high school, all as she awakens to her telekinetic powers. However, as with his take on The Fall of the House of Usher, Flanagan is putting a modern spin on the story that the streamer is now, at long last,previewing.
Prime Video has released the first images from Carrie, showing how King‘s classic characters, like the titular teenage outsider, her tyrannical mother Margaret (Samantha Sloyan), and Sue Snell (Siena Agudong), are being brought to life in a contemporary setting. Flanagan‘s reinvention takes place after the sudden, tragic passing of Carrie’s father, which thrusts her into the vicious world of modern public high school, where she’s immediately entangled in a viral bullying scandal that’s tearing her community apart and is subjected to the casual cruelties of the social media age. Manifesting supernatural powers doesn’t exactly help her feeling of being an outsider, either. This will be a complex version of Carrie, explored through the various acts of kindness and cruelty that ultimately lead to one fateful evening where all hell breaks loose. It’s an exploration of the complex making of the “monster” through a modern lens, but with King‘s same spirit.
Who Is Joining the Flanafam for ‘Carrie’?
The first look particularly showcases Flanagan‘s starry cast, which reunites him with a few regulars like Sloyan and Matthew Lillard, who joined the Flanagam with The Life of Chuck. Also starring are Amber Midthunder as Miss Desjardin, the gym teacher who tried to look out for Carrie, alongside Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen, Joel Oulette as Tommy Ross, Josie Tota as Tina, Arthur Conti as Billy, and Thalia Dudek as Emaline. Flanagan not only created the series, but also directed four of the eight episodes and executive produced with King. Further emphasizing how much of an expansion his show is compared to the book, Heather Graham, who’s also set to appear in Carrie, said at a MegaCon Orlando panel moderated by Collider‘s Maggie Lovitt that “Hopefully, they’re maybe looking to do a second season, too,” if it’s enough of a success.
Carrie premieres on Prime Video later this year, coincidentally in time for the bestselling novel’s 50th anniversary.
via Collider