We have some exciting news about Mike Flanagan’s upcoming Carrie series out of San Diego Comic-Con. The creator says all 8-episodes will premiere in early October. He even showed a teaser trailer that has since been given a wide release.
The new show is based on Stephen King’s 1974 novel of the same name. It has already been adapted into 3 films in 1976, 2002, and 2013. Not to mention a 1999 sequel to the 1976 movie with The Rage: Carrie 2. This project will be the first attempt to adapt the story into a series and expand upon the original work.
It tells the story of Carrie White (Summer Howell), a misfit high‑schooler who spent her entire life hidden in her home by her obsessive mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). The sudden death of her father forces her into public school. She soon becomes the target of a bullying campaign by her peers. However, this harassment starts to unlock previously untapped telekinetic powers.
The teaser shows much of what you’d expect from an adaptation of Carrie. We see that the “pug it up” scene will stay intact to some degree. Though we kind of doubt Miss Collins slapping her will remain given how it was handled in the 2013 version. This failure in basic health education seems to be the catalyst for her cyberbullying and these tormentors setting her up for the “prank” at prom.
A Different Take
Where Flanagan’s take seems to differ is in how Carrie initially receives the bullying. In previous iterations, Carrie grows up with these kids, and they know about her religious upbringing. Most justified their cruelty by either viewing her as judgmental and sanctimonious, not so much for her own actions but her mother’s. While the religious element seems to remain, it doesn’t look like she grew up with these other teens.
Howell narrates the teaser as Carrie with dialogue about all the effort her bullies put into pretending to be her friend. And how, with all that effort, they could have actually gotten to know her and possibly be her real friends. So it does seem like in the series she will be totally blindsided by their sudden cruelty.
In previous versions, Carrie has always been extremely suspicious about why people who hate her are suddenly being nice to her. This causes much of the plot to focus on people like Sue, Tommy, and Miss Collins (people who like her) having to gain her trust. The confusion in Howell’s narration seems to back up that there will be a slightly different spin on the well-worn source material.
Siena Agudong, Alison Thornton, Joel Oulette, Josie Tota, Arthur Conti, Thalia Dudek, Amber Midthunder, and Matthew Lillard also star in the upcoming series. Flanagan is writing, executive producing, and directing 4 episodes.
All 8-episodes of Carrie will hit Amazon Prime Video on October 7th. You can check out the teaser trailer below:
