Stephen King’s take on Mike Flanagan’s Carrie isn’t what you think — at all
Stephen King has officially had his say on Prime Video’s Carrie series — and you’ll want to hear his verdict.
Right then, here we are – Stephen King, the man with the haunted typewriter, has finally had his say on Prime Video's brand new version of Carrie. And, as ever, he couldn't just watch the thing quietly in his living room with his dog – he had to pop up on social media, clip in hand, stirring up all sorts of intrigue for fans and TV journo-types alike. If you were wondering what King himself reckons about director Mike Flanagan's take, or if there’s more King-to-screen business coming, this is the update you needed.
“He is the best adapter of my work,” the 79-year-old said.
He took to X, alongside his dog Molly (King fans know her as 'the Thing of Evil', naturally), to give Flanagan one hell of a shout-out. This isn't a small deal – Flanagan's already handled King material before: both Gerald's Game (Netflix, 2017) and Doctor Sleep (that vast Shining sequel everyone argued about) got the Flanagan treatment, each one getting the thumbs up from hardcore horror fans and even a decent slice of critics. Now he's back, taking a swing at the telekinetic teenager from hell with King onboard as executive producer.
There's another little twist, because King didn't just hand Flanagan compliments and wave him off. In a not-especially-subtle wink to fans, King reckoned that if enough people watch – and like – this new Carrie, he and Flanagan might just have something else brewing. He wouldn't cough up any details, though, other than to say he's sworn to secrecy for now. Expect speculation until someone leaks something.
If you like this and enough people watch it, we might be doing something else that's really special.
Flanagan's King Connection
This Carrie series lands as Flanagan's fourth go at adapting King, which starts to look like a professional habit. To recap the previous ones:
- Gerald's Game (Netflix, 2017): Survival horror, handcuffs, lake house, a pile of emotional trauma, and one of the more unfilmable King novels actually made watchable.
- Doctor Sleep: Ewan McGregor fighting Overlook Hotel flashbacks and a long-overdue reckoning with King’s haunted past, booze included.
- Carrie: The Prime Video series, with Summer H. Howell in the lead. High school hell, psychic powers, and buckets of blood – classic King territory.
King, Flanagan, and producer Trevor Macy all exec-produced this new go-round. The storyline? Standard Carrie recipe: a bullied teenager discovering she can do considerably more with her mind than simply wish people would leave her alone. If you ever suffered through a dodgy prom, probably best not to binge this lot in one sitting.
Carrie marks Flanagan's fourth Stephen King adaptation on screen.
The real tease here? If Carrie pulls in the numbers on Prime Video, King and Flanagan's partnership is far from over. No title, no details, but the promise is there – in spooky King fashion – that another project could be brewing just under the surface.