How Mike Flanagan Will Make ‘Carrie’ Really feel Like a New Story

Horror and literature followers alike can be excited to listen to that seasoned Stephen King cinematic universe storyteller Mike Flanagan has one thing new deliberate for his Carrie adaptation. The eight episode mini-series proposed by Amazon was an concept Flanagan initially balked at. He advised Variety, “I initially thought, ‘Why? It’s been performed.”

You’ll be able to’t blame him for hesitating; the e book has already been tailored a number of instances. However after giving it appreciable thought, he mentioned, “I discovered a solution to that query, and it made me very excited.”

He then turned to somebody who clearly wanted to be a part of the dialogue: famed horror writer Stephen King, who Flanagan has had a fruitful working relationship with—together with on his present characteristic The Life of Chuck.

“However once I went to Steve, his reply was ‘Why?’ His first response was, ‘Go away her alone. She’s been via sufficient.’ However it’s that factor the place the extra data I may share, and sending him the bible and the plan for the present, he may see the factor we had been making an attempt to do this was new.” Flanagan defined. “Then he mentioned with out freely giving an excessive amount of, ‘Ohh, now I’m , simply as a fan. I’m excited to see the place this goes.’ As soon as he mentioned sure, then we had been off, as a result of if Steve had mentioned no, I wouldn’t do it. So the connection has advanced, however he’s at all times remained extremely respectful of separating the e book and the film.”

The Physician Sleep filmmaker seeks to modernize the narrative we learn about Carrie’s battle to slot in, not simply in school however at dwelling. How that may rework within the digital age knowledgeable his take. “The factor I’d say is the unique story is half a century outdated and it’s fantastic. Its themes had been about youth and bullying and the implications of that. I consider that in at the moment’s fashionable world, the ability of what it means to be a bully, the breadth of that and the impression of bullying, have modified quite a bit,” he mentioned.

“The central tenets are nonetheless the identical, but it surely’s about far more than Carrie White,” Flanagan teased, hinting that whereas different on-screen diversifications centered on Carrie, he plans on deeper explorations of the opposite characters and world round her as nicely.

“I can’t actually speak about what we’re doing, I can solely actually speak about what we’re not doing. We’re not retelling the story because it’s been advised, and we’re not making a present about telekinesis. It’s in there, however that’s not what it’s about,” he mentioned, ruling out about leaning an excessive amount of into Carrie’s supernatural inclinations. “There’s a model of it the place Carrie White carries a tragic superhero origin story that goes horribly flawed. I really feel like they’ve performed that, too.”

This new model of the story will seemingly tie into how social buildings have turn out to be extra poisonous, within the age of on-line platforms turning into locations of radicalization even when children depart colleges. “We’re targeted far more on the destruction of a neighborhood via these very fashionable instruments. What occurs in a world the place the web has created an atmosphere of perceived anonymity? Carrie White within the locker room in each iteration is a horrifying scene,” he mentioned. “Carrie White within the locker room when individuals have telephones of their palms is an entire totally different factor.”

That positively brings to thoughts modern youth-centered dramas akin to Adolescence however by means of Stephen King Horror—and we will’t wait to see what Flanagan comes up with.

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