Frank Darabont’s <em>The Mist</em> set a punishing standard for anyone attempting another adaptation of Stephen King’s novella. Its final scene remains one of the most devastating endings in modern horror, ensuring that any new version will face immediate comparisons. Mike Flanagan is not running from that challenge, but he has no interest in recreating what Darabont already accomplished. Flanagan’s upcoming Mist movie reunites him with King after Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, The Life of Chuck, and the new Prime Video adaptation of <em>Carrie</em>. Warner Bros. announced the project earlier this year, but has not revealed its cast, production schedule, or release date. Flanagan has now offered a concrete update on how far the movie has progressed behind the scenes.
During an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival for Flanagan’s new Prime Video adaptation of Carrie, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff asked when audiences might finally see his interpretation of the story. Flanagan could not provide a release window, but he confirmed that he is actively writing the screenplay. He even revealed when he currently expects to deliver it to the studio.
“I’m writing it right now,” Flanagan told Collider. “I was working on it on the airplane here.” He said the screenplay is due around Halloween and planned to continue working during his flights and between interviews at TIFF. Flanagan qualified the Halloween deadline with “I think,” meaning it should not be treated as a firm production announcement. Turning in a screenplay also does not mean filming will immediately begin, particularly when no cast has been announced. Still, his answer confirms that the project has moved beyond its initial announcement and into active development.
ALeave immediately. I don’t need to understand a threat to respect it.
BStay quiet and observe. If I can see it, I can understand it. If I can understand it, I can avoid it.
CStay awake. Whatever this is, I am not going to sleep until I feel safe again.
DConfront it directly. Fear grows in the dark — I’d rather know what I’m dealing with.
ECheck everything, trust nothing. The threat might be closer than I think — and smaller.
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02
Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong?
Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply.
ASomewhere remote — a cabin, a campsite, off the grid and away from people.
BA quiet suburban neighbourhood where nothing ever happens. Except tonight.
CIn my own head — the most dangerous place of all, depending on what’s already in there.
DWherever children are — because something about this place attracts the worst things.
ESomewhere ordinary — a house, a toy store, a place where the last thing you’d expect is a threat.
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What to Expect From Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Mist’ Adaptation
Image via Dimension Films
The filmmaker also addressed the unavoidable comparisons to Darabont’s 2007 adaptation. Flanagan called the earlier movie “wonderful” and “vicious,” making it clear that his new version is not intended to correct something he believes Darabont got wrong. His admiration for that movie is precisely why he believes his own adaptation needs a different identity. “There’s no point in doing it again, so I get to do something new, which is always exciting,” Flanagan explained. He did not reveal whether that new direction concerns the characters, the creatures, the ending, or another element of King’s story. For now, audiences only know that he does not plan to deliver a retread of the previous movie.
Warner Bros. has not announced when production will begin or when the movie will reach theaters. Stay tuned at Collider for the rest of Nemiroff’s interview with Flanagan andCarrie starSummer H. Howell, and don’t miss the series when it premieres on October 7 on Prime Video.
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