Stephen King almost immediately proved how much potential there was in his writing when it only took a few years for his debut novel, Carrie, to be adapted into a major motion picture. Since then, we’ve gotten a movie sequel, a TV reboot, and a big-screen reboot, all of which explore the premise of the titular teen discovering her telekinetic powers. A new take on the material is on the way, this time from filmmaker Mike Flanagan, which is taking the form of an eight-episode Prime Video series.
With Flanagan’s previous King adaptations Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck, he proved how faithful he could be to the source material, no matter how challenging it was to realize in live-action. Even though the original novel and multiple adaptations took place in the ’70s, Flanagan opted not to pursue that perspective and instead set the show in contemporary times. Despite his track record of faithfully honoring source material, there were very specific reasons why he shifted the series’ timeline.
Speaking with Radio Times, Flanagan explained, “The themes we are exploring are relevant to today’s teenagers in such a profound way that wasn’t true when I was that age, much less when Stephen was, and just doing a period piece adaptation would have felt like re-reading.”
He added, “This wasn’t about nostalgia and doing something again, it was about telling a story that was vital to today; speaking to the unique experience of teens today, told through a new version of Stephen’s characters.”
Arguably one of Flanagan’s biggest challenges as a filmmaker was Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining. The major issue is that, in The Shining novel, the Overlook Hotel exploded, while the big-screen adaptation avoided that element. This meant Flanagan was tasked with somehow honoring both the original narrative while also embracing the legacy of Stanley Kubrick‘s 1980 movie.
With Carrie, shifting the timeline to present day wasn’t just out of logistical concerns, but also of thematic opportunities.
“Today, kids deal with a level of anxiety at school that I couldn’t have contemplated when I was growing up and the horror of being a teen today is so different from 1976, and this was a wonderful opportunity to explore that,” Flanagan confessed.
Carrie is set to premiere on Prime Video on October 7.
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