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We have the first details and images of Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series, which is set to hit Prime Video this fall.
The headline details are that this new, eight-episode adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel is set in the modern day, and explores teen relationships with technology. It sounds like Carrie isn’t alone in having powers, with each episode introducing a new character with a different ability. And Carrie’s famous blood-drenched prom scene, which proved so iconic in Brian De Palma’s 1976 movie adaptation, will play out differently.
Here’s the official blurb:
“Misfit high‑schooler Carrie White (Summer Howell) has spent her life hidden away inside the walls of her home with her fiercely protective mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). After her father’s sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence.”
Flanagan, famous for Netflix horror shows The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, and for adapting King’s 2020 novella The Life of Chuck into a film starring Tom Hiddleston, told Entertainment Weekly that the challenge with adapting Carrie came from expanding upon King’s book for a TV show, rather than making it smaller.
“De Palma adapted it faithfully and beautifully 50 years ago,” Flanagan said. “Then it’s been adapted twice after that, officially and unofficially. It’s been imitated scores of times. So for me, this was never going to be a straight adaptation. The only way to approach it was to build something new out of the ingredients of Carrie. Otherwise, there’s really no purpose in trying to retread ground that’s been so beautifully walked before.”
The TV show features familiar characters and core events from the novel, including the high school bathroom period scene and, of course, the prom. But, Flanagan said, “we’re getting there a completely different way and the events of that prom are going to be completely different. That’s a wonderfully delicious and irresistible opportunity for someone who loves adapting things.”
It sounds like the show will expand upon the lore of Carrie, too, delving into Carrie’s place in the larger universe and the “TK gene” she carries. “She’s part of a sorority of very gifted women and just doesn’t know it,” Flanagan explained. “The book absolutely points at that, but that was something we could pick up and run with.”
To this end, each episode from the second onwards opens with a unique story of a different woman somewhere else in the world who explores their awakening powers. “Carrie’s specific place among that group of women is part of the real joy that we get to discover over the course of the season,” Flanagan teased.
Brian De Palma’s Carrie movie is considered one of the greatest horror films of all time, and no Carrie adaptation or follow-up since has managed to better it, so it will be interesting to see if Flanagan’s take can reach the heights of De Palma’s effort. One thing is clear: this new Carrie will be very different indeed.
Image credit: Robert Falconer/Prime.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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https://www.ign.com/articles/this-was-never-going-to-be-a-straight-adaptation-mike-flanagans-carrie-tv-show-makes-big-changes-from-stephen-kings-horror-novel
Wesley Yin-Poole
Almontather Rassoul
