While Mike Flanagan has done nothing but make contributions to the world of Stephen King adaptations, he still managed to cause an uproar last week when it was announced that he has plans to make a new version of The Mist. Frank Darabont‘s movie is still beloved by many decades after its 2007 theatrical release, and social media was flooded with posts critical of the new project. If you’re one of those people, Flanagan now has a message for you: relax!
The filmmaker has been bold when it comes to Stephen King movies – with the source material for Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep and The Life Of Chuck all possessing special challenges – and he wants fans to know that his vision for The Mist is far from just a money grab. Asked by a fan on BlueSky about the “why” behind the film, Flanagan first wrote (across two posts),
The Mist is going to be great. If there wasn’t an excellent answer to “why”, I wouldn’t do it… And FWIW, I got the same “but why” comments for The Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor, House of Usher, Carrie, The Exorcist, and even Ouija: Origin of Evil. Also got it for Life of Chuck. I’ve been lucky so far in my career to only take on projects I’m really excited about.
Of the projects he names that have been released, all of them have been critical successes and earned Mike Flanagan new fans – and there is plenty of anticipation for what he has in the works with Carrie (the Amazon Prime series expected to premiere this fall) and his untitled Exorcist movie (which is going to be arriving in theaters next year.)
So what exactly is Flanagan’s “why” in the case of The Mist? He’s evidently not quite ready to show his hand yet and explain what he wants to do with the Stephen King story, but he does stress in another social media post that he has a great affection for the Frank Darabont adaptation and does not plan to simply rehash what has already been done:
I love Darabont’s film, and there’s zero point in remaking it. Which is why I’m going in a different direction. 🙂
First published in a 1980 anthology titled Dark Forces before being included in King’s 1985 omnibus Skeleton Crew, The Mist centers on a collection of people living in a small Maine town who find themselves trapped in a supermarket when an eldritch fog covers the area hiding otherworldly beasts ready to rip apart any humans they find. With the exception of the ending and some other key details, Darabont’s movie is an extremely faithful adaptation, so it sounds as though Flanagan is taking the core concept but trying something new with it.
He lastly added:
I learned a long ago never to try to predict what the fans will or won’t argue about (everybody needs to relax, frankly; I just saw a whole chain of people foaming at the mouth over fan-made AI slop posters for The Exorcist)… but yeah, this isn’t a retread. The differences start page 1.
What will this ultimately look like? We’ll all have to exhibit some patience on that front. Given Mike Flanagan’s schedule, it seems unlikely that we’ll actually get to see his vision for the King novella until at least 2028. In the meantime, we’ll be on the constant lookout for more updates as more of his vision for the material is revealed.