Carrie: Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King series gets the official greenlight from Prime Video

Carrie, the subject of author Stephen King’s first published novel and one of the greatest female icons in the horror genre, is coming back – and this time Mike Flanagan is the one taking her to prom. It was announced last October that Flanagan was working with King to turn the story of Carrie into an eight episode series that will be released through Amazon’s Prime Video service. Flanagan is executive producing the series with Trevor Macy. Deadline noted at the time, “They’re opening a writer’s room, so this one’s happening quickly.” And now, Deadline reports that the show has received the official greenlight from Prime Video.

Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios, provided the following statement: “Carrie is an iconic story that has withstood the test of time with continued cultural relevance. With Mike Flanagan at the helm and the accomplished team assembled including executive producer Trevor Macy this provocative series is sure to captivate our global customers.” Flanagan is executive producer, showrunner, writer, and will direct select episodes.

The greenlight news is no surprise, as we’ve been hearing rumblings of casting news recently. Last week, we heard that Milly Shapiro, who is best known for her role in Hereditary and was recently in the cast of the Peacock series Hysteria!, was in talks to play Carrie White in the series. But if Shapiro was in the running, it looks like Summer H. Howell has passed her at the finish line, as it was reported yesterday that Howell, whose credits include Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky, is in negotiations to play Carrie. Siena Agudong (The 4:30 Movie) has been cast as Sue Snell.

Flanagan has previously directed film adaptations of the King novels Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep. His upcoming film The Life of Chuck is another King adaptation – and he’s also known to be developing the author’s Dark Tower saga as a Prime Video series.

Published in 1974, King’s novel Carrie served as the inspiration for the classic 1976 film directed by Brian De Palma. The concept then sat dormant for a couple of decades, until the sequel The Rage: Carrie 2 came along in 1999. That was quickly followed by a made-for-TV Carrie remake in 2002, and then Carrie got a big screen remake in 2013. The character was played by Sissy Spacek in ’76, Angela Bettis in ’02, and Chloe Grace Moretz in ’13. Back in 2019, it was rumored that a limited series adaptation was in development at FX, but that project (if it existed) didn’t go anywhere.

King’s novel has the following description: Unpopular at school and subjected to her mother’s religious fanaticism at home, Carrie White does not have it easy. But while she may be picked on by her classmates, she has a gift she’s kept secret since she was a little girl: she can move things with her mind. Doors lock. Candles fall. Her ability has been both a power and a problem. And when she finds herself the recipient of a sudden act of kindness, Carrie feels like she’s finally been given a chance to be normal. She hopes that the nightmare of her classmates’ vicious taunts is over . . . but an unexpected and cruel prank turns her gift into a weapon of horror so destructive that the town may never recover. Here’s the logline for Flanagan’s series: A bold and timely reimagining of the story of misfit high-schooler Carrie White (Howell), who has spent her life in seclusion with her domineering mother. After her father’s sudden and untimely death, Carrie finds herself contending with the alien landscape of public High School, a bullying scandal that shatters her community, and the emergence of mysterious telekinetic powers.

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