Stephen King’s debut novel Carrie has been adapted into numerous movies – the most notable being the 1976 movie with Sissy Spacek – but Prime Video could be the first to reimagine its story for a drama series. With horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan (who worked on one of the best Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House) lined up to write and executive produce the series, King’s iconic psychological horror could have a permanent residency on one of the best streaming services.
While we don’t yet have a release date, nor information on who will assume the titular role, Amazon MGM Studios has described Flanagan’s upcoming project as “bold and timely” according to The Hollywood Reporter, which shared that Trevor Macy of Intrepid Pictures will also be executive producing the show alongside Flanagan. Deadline has also reported that Flanagan will be collaborating with Stephen King himself to retell the story of his coming-of-age high school horror.
From the studio’s description of the upcoming series, it seems as though this Stephen King adaptation will remain faithful to the original 1974 novel, which follows timid high school student Carrie White. Following the death of her father and being stuck under the supervision of her hyper-religious and controlling mother, she’s branded as an outcast at school falling victim to bullying while discovering her knack for telekinesis.
However, this isn’t the first time that Flanagan has worked on an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s novels, as he served as director on Doctor Sleep (2019) which is currently one of the best Stephen King movies on Max. In addition to directing the movie adaptation of King’s Gerald’s Game (2017), which scarred me during my week of watching psychological horror movies, Flanagan has flaunted his influence on the horror genre time and time again with other movies such as Hush (2016) and Netflix horror series Midnight Mass (2021). Will his venture into this new Carrie series help, or hinder his reputation?
Who will step into Carrie’s shoes this time?
As mentioned above, Sissy Spacek was the first one to bring King’s character to life in Brian De Palma’s 1976 movie Carrie which also starred John Travolta, and Piper Laurie has her controlling mother. Twenty years later, The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) was released as a sequel to the 1976 movie but had no mention of the character of Carrie White. It starred Emily Bergl as protagonist Rachel, another timid high school girl whose supernatural powers mirror those of the original Carrie character.
A made-for-TV movie directed by David Carson premiered on NBC in 2002 casting Angela Bettis as Carrie White. It came the third reimagining of King’s novel, and stands as the lowest rated version on Rotten Tomatoes with an embarrassing score of 20%. Chloe Grace Moretz is the most recent actress to assume the role, starring in Kimberly Peirce’s 2013 movie with Julianne Moore and Ansel Elgort.
The next actress to take on the challenge remains a mystery, and poses the question to who will have the guts to resurrect an iconic character that’s been subject to poor revisions. We’re now in an age where horror icons like Jenna Ortega are stealing the spotlight with their modern scream queen status, so this is Flanagan’s chance to one-up Tim Burton and introduce us to the next wave of horror actresses.
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