Stephen King adaptations have become their own sub-genre of the entertainment industry. But Brian De Palma’s Carrie is the film that first brought King’s work to the big screen and became an indelible cult classic. Fifty years after Carrie became a critically acclaimed box office hit, we’re getting a TV adaptation of the story. Mike Flanagan, who has already worked on several well-received Stephen King film adaptations throughout his career (Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep), is spearheading a Carrie TV series for Prime Video.
Prime Video is marketing its take on Carrie as a “bold, timely, and surprising reinvention of this classic coming-of-age story,” which only raises fan anticipation for what Flanagan has in store. His previous TV series (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, Fall of the House of Usher) have mixed chilling horror with deep and powerful drama, often centered around family, community, and even faith. He’s also become one of the most accomplished at adapting King’s works, with films like Gerald’s Game and The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep under his belt. Now Flagan is mixing both those talents for his take on Carrie.
Prime Video just released some first-look images from the Carrie miniseries, giving fans a taste of what they can expect.
Summer H. Howell (Time Cut, All Fun and Games) will be stepping into the role of Carrie White, the meek teenager hiding a powerful psychic ability. Frequent “Team Flanagan” collaborator Samantha Sloyan (Midnight Mass, Fall of the House of Usher) will be playing Carrie’s religiously fanatical and abusive mother, Margaret White.
Carrie White became iconic in horror after actress Sissy Spacek played the role in De Palma’s film adaptation; both she and Piper Laurie (the original actress who played Margaret) were nominated for Academy Awards and retain their respective high rankings as two of the greatest horror movie performances ever. Carrie has since been expanded into a sequel (The Rage: Carrie 2), a 2002 TV movie, 2013 theatrical remake (with Chloe Moretz playing Carrie and Julianne Moore as Margaret), and several stage productions. No lead duo has topped Spacek and Laurie yet, so Howell and Sloyan have a challenge ahead of them.
In addition to Howell and Sloyan, the cast of Carrie (2026) will include young stars like Siena Agudong as the new version of Sue Snell, a girl at school who feels guilt over Carrie’s mistreatment; Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen, leader of the mean girl pack that’s targeting Carrie; Josie Totah as Tina Blake, Chris’ best friend, with veteran actors like Amber Midthunder (Prey), and Matthew Lillard (Scream 7) playing teachers and/or administrators as the school.
There will also be some fun cameos by actors from the “Team Flannangan” crew, including his wife, Kate Siegel (Haunting of Hill House, Fall of the House of Usher), Katee Sackhoff (Oculus), Tahmoh Penikett (Trick ‘r Treat), Heather Graham (They Will Kill You), and others.
“De Palma adapted it faithfully and beautifully 50 years ago,” Flanagan told EW. “Then it’s been adapted twice after that, officially and unofficially. It’s been imitated scores of times. So for me, this was never going to be a straight adaptation. The only way to approach it was to build something new out of the ingredients of Carrie. Otherwise, there’s really no purpose in trying to retread ground that’s been so beautifully walked before.”
“One of the things I’m the most sensitive to is when people change things,” he added later. “This would require an enormous amount of change and invention and re-contextualization, but that’s kind of why I wanted to do it.”
Flanagan teased that his adaptation will be expanding upon the larger story of where Carrie’s telekinetic powers come from, saying, “Stephen King also talks about the ‘TK gene’ [for telekinesis] and the science behind Carrie’s abilities,” Flanagan explained. “Something that the De Palma adaptation ignored was Carrie’s place in the larger universe, that she’s part of a sorority of very gifted women and just doesn’t know it. The book absolutely points at that, but that was something we could pick up and run with.”
Prime Video has not set a release date for Carrie yet. But discuss the show and more horror topics on the ComicBook Forum!
