I’ve often thought about that in all the dozens (hundreds?) of series I’ve watched on Netflix, which is my absolute favorite? Obviously the big ones like Mindhunter or Dark come to mind, but if I’m being honest, it’s Mike Flanagan’s Haunting of Hill House, easily my favorite horror series ever, and one of my favorite pieces of horror media ever.
Flanagan went on to make the also-excellent Haunting of Bly Manor and the incredible Midnight Mass for Netflix, but the service eventually fumbled him and he moved over to Amazon Prime Video. Now, it’s been announced that he will be making an eight-episode series of Stephen King’s Carrie for them. Here’s the official description:
A “bold and timely reimagining of the story of misfit high-schooler Carrie White, who has spent her life in seclusion with her domineering mother. After her father’s sudden and untimely death, Carrie finds herself contending with the alien landscape of public High School, a bullying scandal that shatters her community, and the emergence of mysterious telekinetic powers.”
So yeah that’s…Carrie, but what sort re-imagining this will be and how the story will feel extended into eight hours instead of a movie remains to be seen. There is obviously 1978’s famous Carrie movie starring Sissy Spacek in the title role. Most recently it was remade in 2013 starring Chloe Moretz. That…did not review well, a 50% critic score and a 44% audience score. But a Mike Flanagan-made series? It’s hard not to have faith in that.
I am a touch surprised that Flanagan is making this and not The Dark Tower for Amazon, as that studio has the rights to the epic Stephen King series and Flanagan has repeatedly talked about that being his dream project. Not to say that couldn’t happen, and Carrie is just an interlude, but it would be a tremendous effort and probably another series that Amazon would need to throw several hundred million dollars at, like they’ve done with their biggest series so far (Rings of Power, Citadel, Fallout).
Carrie made in the 2024 climate will be…interesting. I’m already seeing some pushback on the concept of the story surfacing in present day at all:
I sort of get that and yet I would say a supernatural horror film about a telekinetic teen is not the same as the real-life violence we have seen in US schools perpetrated by men or boys with guns. But if that’s your position, I suppose you won’t be watching. I will, because Flanagan is just out of this world talented when it comes to horror, and I wouldn’t miss a single thing he makes.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
