©Courtesy of Dimension Films 

Filmmaker Mike Flanagan, who is working on The Mist, a film adaptation for Warner Bros, of Stephen King’s novella, has declared that the movie was not designed to be a remake of Frank Darabont’s 2007 film. Although another adaptation ran for a single season on Spike TV in 2017, neither of the two films was popular among viewers.

Flanagan will write and direct the upcoming film for Warner Bros. He explained his motivation for tackling the project; “If there wasn’t an excellent answer to ‘why’, I wouldn’t do it. I love Darabont’s film, and there’s zero point in remaking it. Which is why I’m going in a different direction. I learned a long ago never to try to predict what the fans will or won’t argue about… but yeah, this isn’t a retread. The differences start page 1.”

Like many of King’s works, The Mist is set in a Maine town, which has been engulfed by a mysterious fog from which deadly creatures emerge. Survivors take refuge in a local grocery store, where one of them–a religious fanatic–plays on their fears by inciting anxiety and paranoia.

As a youngster, Flanagan lived briefly in Salem, Massachusetts, which helped spark his interest in the horror genre. The filmmaker has directed other adaptations of King’s works, including Gerald’s Game, The Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep, and Life of Chuck. Flanagan added that he was also faced with similar ‘but why” questions in making other works, including The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Fall of the House of Usher, and Ouija: Origin of Evil. His wife, actor Kate Siegel, often appears in his films.

Flanagan is currently working on The Exorcist, a new film starring Scarlet Johansson that will make its debut in 2027, His mini-series inspired by Carrie will be released later this year on Prime Video.

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