Mike Flanagan Reimagines 'Carrie,' Offers Hope for Second Season

Mike Flanagan found it "enormously daunting" to reimagine the iconic prom scene from Stephen King's "Carrie" for the new Amazon Prime Video miniseries.

"That made me nauseous for a really long time," Flanagan told Page Six. "If you mention the word ‘Carrie,’ everyone has the same several images that flash into their head. It’s tattooed on pop culture."

Flanagan, also known for "The Haunting of Hill House" and "Midnight Mass," based his latest project on King's 1974 debut novel. In this adaptation, Canadian actress Summer H. Howell stars as the telepathic teenager, with Samantha Sloyan as her mother, Margaret. Similar to the original story, Carrie is socially awkward and bullied after being isolated for much of her childhood.

Recreating the Iconic Prom Scene

The climax of the story unfolds at the prom, where a cruel prank leads to Carrie's powers lashing out. For this pivotal scene, Flanagan explained that multiple types of fake blood were used on set. "Very watery [so that] when it drops, it would drip off of her. And [blood] that would stay in place when we needed it to do that," he said, noting variations in color and texture.

Filming the scene required precise execution, with a bucket of blood dumped on Howell approximately four times. "If they got the angle wrong by two inches, they had to scrap that take, because the blood ran down her back, instead of her face," Flanagan shared. Howell reportedly ate lunch covered in blood, requiring a tarp to sit on chairs.

Modernizing the Narrative and Themes

The new series updates the narrative to a modern setting, incorporating social media into the high school cruelties Carrie endures. Stephen King is involved as an executive producer, and Flanagan mentioned that King was particularly enthusiastic about a new storyline featuring other women with powers, which appears at the beginning of each episode.

"He was very excited about that storyline involving the legacy of other powerful women," Flanagan said, adding that King's primary hesitation was about adapting the story at all.

Flanagan also made a deliberate choice to have all the directors for "Carrie," with the exception of himself, be women, including his wife, Kate Siegel, and Kyra Sedgwick. "That was a deliberate choice. I thought, ‘This is a story about female empowerment, and the only thing I know less about than being a teenager is being a woman,'" he explained. "It became essential for this story of this young woman to be told by people who did know what they were talking about."

A Different Ending and Future Possibilities

One of the most significant departures from King's original story is the fate of Carrie. In the novel, Carrie enacts revenge on her bullies before dying. In Flanagan's miniseries, Carrie survives. At the end of the series, a character named Emaline spirits Carrie away to an unknown location.

"We thought this version of Carrie really deserved to survive the story," Flanagan stated. "We left a lot of doors open, and a lot of questions on the table that I’d love a chance to answer."

Regarding the possibility of a second season, Flanagan admitted he doesn't have a concrete plan but has "a lot of wishes." "Carrie" is currently available for streaming on Prime Video.