Over the course of the past several decades, Stephen King has become a venerable pillar of pop culture. The highly prolific author has created some of the most iconic and enduring literary works of the past six decades and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down any time soon. Something that has greatly assisted the reach and longevity of his novels from the very beginning has been their adaptations into movies, television, and beyond, and it looks as though this grand tradition is not only being carried on but is also being evaluated in interesting ways in Mike Flanagan’s new take on Carrie.
The Prime TV series from Flanagan tackles King’s infamous 1974 novel, which was actually the author’s debut. Just a few short years later, the Brian De Palma-directed 1976 film adaptation of Carrie was released and became a monumental success. This cemented both Carrie as a film and King as an author as fixtures of the then-modern horror landscape, which have persisted ever since.
Though there have been other takes on Carrie over the years, including a much-maligned sequel in the form of 1999’s The Rage: Carrie 2, a less-than-stellar made-for-TV movie in 2002, and a theatrically released remake in 2013, the one-two punch of King’s novel and De Palma’s film has endured as the defining iteration. Now, however, Flanagan and co. look to be entering into that larger cross-cultural conversation in a very knowing and articulate way.
Set for release in October of 2026, Flanagan’s Carrie turns King’s relatively short novel into an eight-episode season of prestige television, and the first trailer has just released, giving audiences a glimpse at what that might look like. The two largest points of focus in the trailer are the updated setting and the presence of Flanagan as a showrunner.
The first of these is illustrated in practically every frame of the trailer; this is not a period piece, but rather a work that seeks to give this new version of Carrie the same kind of immediacy and relatability that King and De Palma’s versions had when they were released in the ‘70s. Carrie is, after all, a tragic tale of adolescence gone wrong, so the choice to update it in such a way that modern adolescent audiences will be able to more easily see themselves in it is certainly a valid one. This is a take on the material in which social media and modern cyberbullying tactics look to play a large role, as is illustrated consistently throughout the trailer by having the young characters on their phones, filming other characters doing things unknowingly, and spreading that footage through social media sites like Instagram and TikTok.
The second point of focus in the trailer is Flanagan himself, and specifically, his role in creating The Haunting of Hill House series for Netflix. Though the director has been involved in any number of high-profile projects in the near-decade since the release of that streaming series, Hill House is directly cited by name in the trailer, and that feels highly intentional. That series saw Flanagan similarly tackling an iconic work of horror literature that had seen numerous adaptations over the years, updating it and expanding upon it in fascinating ways.
The series struck a balance between more overt horror tactics and deeply emotional character work, and judging from the glimpses we see of performances in this trailer, Carrie looks to be attempting to mine that same sweet spot.
All in all, the first trailer for Carrie is a promising one, showcasing glimpses of the lead performance, the supporting cast, and the high-octane chaos that ensues by the series’ end. Flanagan has delivered tons of high-quality work in the genre over the years, including numerous remarkable Stephen King adaptations, so I am at the very least extremely curious to see what he does with this. Expanding what is a fairly condensed novel into an expansive multi-hour season of television seems like a strange choice, but Flanagan and co. have more than earned my patience to wait and see precisely what they’re cooking up.
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