Amazon is tapping Mike Flanagan to adapt Carrie into a series for Prime Video, but who will play Stephen King’s first horror icon?
Debut novel by Stephen King Carrie has been adapted into numerous films – the most notable being the 1976 film starring 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 Ghost of Hill House) who is lined up to write and produce the series, King’s iconic psychological horror could find permanent residency on one of the top streaming services.
While we don’t yet have a release date nor information on who will take on the titular role, Amazon MGM Studios has described Flanagan’s upcoming project as “bold and timely” according to The Hollywood Reporterwho shared that Intrepid Pictures’ Trevor Macy will also executive produce the show alongside Flanagan. Term has also reported that Flanagan will team up 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 like this Stephen King adaptation will stay true to the original 1974 novel, which follows timid high school student Carrie White. After the death of her father and the tutelage of her hyper-religious and controlling mother, she is branded an outcast at school and falls victim to bullying, while discovering her talent for telekinesis.
However, this isn’t the first time Flanagan has worked on an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s novels, as he served as director on Doctor sleep (2019), currently one of the best Stephen King films on Max. In addition to directing the film adaptation of King’s Gerard’s game (2017), which scarred me during my week of watching psychological horror films, Flanagan has shown his influence on the horror genre time and time again with other films such as Quiet (2016) and Netflix horror series Midnight mass (2021). Will be venture into this new Carrie series help or hinder its reputation?
Who will step into Carrie’s shoes this time?
As mentioned above, Sissy Spacek was the first to bring King’s character to life in Brian De Palma’s 1976 film 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 film, but made no mention of Carrie White’s character. Emily Bergl starred as Rachel, another timid high school student whose supernatural powers mirror those of the original Carrie character.
A made-for-TV movie directed by David Carson premiered on NBC in 2002 starring Angela Bettis as Carrie White. It was the third new version of King’s novel and ranks as the lowest-rated version on Rotten Tomatoes with an embarrassing 20% score. Chloe Grace Moretz is the latest actress to take on the role, starring in Kimberly Peirce’s 2013 film starring Julianne Moore and Ansel Elgort.
The next actress to take on the challenge remains a mystery, raising the question of who will have the guts to resurrect an iconic character subject to poor revisions. We’re now in an era where horror icons like Jenna Ortega are stealing the spotlight with their modern scream queen status, so this is Flanagan’s chance to take on Tim Burton and introduce us to the next wave of horror actresses.