Thanks to Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck, filmmaker Mike Flanagan has established himself as an authority on Stephen King, especially when adapting his stories into live-action. Those aforementioned titles had never been brought to life before, which also proves Flanagan has the courage to tackle challenging material. In fact, with so much of Gerald’s Game specifically unfolding from a character’s inner monologue, it was often considered an unadaptable narrative, with Flanagan happy to prove that idea wrong.
Flanagan’s project, though, is heading in a different direction, as he’s adapting King’s first published novel, Carrie. The story was brought to life as a movie in 1976, which earned the sequel The Rage: Carrie 2 in 1999, as well as a TV adaptation in 2002, and then a big-screen remake in 2013. The Prime Video series marks the longest adaptation yet, as the events of the story will unfold over eight episodes. And that’s just for starters; Flanagan claims he has an even bigger plan in mind for the narrative.
The first season of the series will seemingly only be the start of a longer narrative, as Flanagan confirmed to Collider that he envisions his series running for three seasons. The filmmaker explained, “In my dream scenario … I think it’s three seasons. In my dream scenario, I think Carrie has a wonderful three-step arc. It’s a trilogy, really.”
These remarks raise a lot of questions about the potential of the concept. The original novel and multiple adaptations have quite definitive conclusions, despite the fact that The Rage was ultimately released. This could mean that things don’t wrap up quite as cleanly as other versions of the narrative, or significant new elements are introduced.
One thing we do know, however, is that Flanagan aims to put more emphasis on other characters who have similar telekinetic abilities, which is a realm other adaptations have ignored.
“The story of Carrie alone has been told now several times,” the filmmaker shared with Entertainment Weekly earlier this month. “The thing that’s never been delved into is Carrie’s a part of this larger community of women and she never gets to know that. We have a book that fits perfectly into a 90-minute format. We’re talking about a series. Expansion’s essential. So if that’s the mission, how can we earn it? And that was the crux of it. Let’s understand that this is the story about gifted women. Let’s understand that this is a story about young women, in particular, learning their place in the world and coming into their power — and all the pitfalls that come with that.”
The new Carrie series premieres on Prime Video on October 7. There’s no official word on whether Prime Video will renew the series.
Would you like to see the series expand into a trilogy? Let us know in the comments below!
