The Latest Stephen King Project Wrapped Filming, and Mike Flanagan is Raving
Mike Flanagan is a man of many talents. While he got his start in the indie horror scene, he’s since catapulted to widely recognized, mainstream success. There’s nary an audience member out there unfamiliar with at least some of Flanagan’s work, though the realest among us (including me) know he brings the (tearjerking) juice to every project he helms.
I’ve come around on Absentia, love Oculus, and remain flabbergasted by just how scary his sequel to the maligned Ouija was. In later years, Flanagan has shifted away from original properties, choosing instead to center himself in a sea of IP, most notably adaptations of Stephen King’s many, many works. It makes sense, especially after the success of Gerald’s Game, a novella largely considered unfilmable. He’s adapted several works, and his most recent is going to take us back to the bloodiest prom in horror history (again). Flanagan is developing a new adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie for Amazon MGM Studios, and filming recently wrapped. To celebrate, Flanagan revisited the original, and he had nothing but praise to sing for Brian DePalma’s groundbreaking classic. Learn more, including where to stream the original, below
Per Tubi: Sheltered by her religious zealot mother, a painfully shy teenager with secret psychic powers unleashes them on her relentless high school bullies.
In a Letterboxd review of the film, Flanagan wrote:
“A terrific night revisiting DePalma’s classic at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver with a sold-out crowd and the cast of my upcoming Carrie series. We just wrapped Friday, so this was a perfect way to celebrate the end of production. Some of the cast had never seen this, so that made it even more special. Hell of a night.” I’m envious, of course. I’d love to see Carrie with Mike Flanagan in a sold-out theater. Now, that doesn’t mean everything is perfect, especially when it comes to the upcoming series.
As astutely noted by our Editorial Director, Josh Korngut, little about this adaptation appears to be breaking the mold, especially when it comes to Carrie White herself. He wrote, “Carrie’s fatness and acne are an essential part of the cruelty she endures and part of why her eventual eruption of rage feels both earned and tragic. This element, however, has been systematically erased in every significant adaptation of the novel to date as conventionally thin young women continue to embody Carrie. From Sissy Spacek to Chloe Grace Moretz, filmmakers have reimagined Carrie as looking just like the popular girls: skinny, blonde, and gorgeous.”
There’s a lot to think about there, and whether this adaptation can justify its commitment to the hegemonic norm remains to be seen. In the meantime, DePalma’s classic is still there, and Flanagan is right on one count—it’s a helluva time at the prom.
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