How Mike Flanagan's Carrie TV Series Sets Up A New Stephen King Universe
Mike Flanagan's new 'Carrie' TV series on Prime Video is being positioned as the foundation for a broader Stephen King shared universe. The show updates the classic story for the modern era while introducing a narrative framework that connects various characters with psychic abilities.
Why it matters
This adaptation represents a strategic attempt by studios to build a cohesive cinematic universe from Stephen King's extensive literary catalog, following previous failed attempts.
Prime Video Add SlashFilm on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover Spoilers ahead for "Carrie" Season 1.
Shared universes are all the rage in film and TV, whether they're superhero universes, a failed classic monsters universe, or a MonsterVerse full of kaiju. So, it makes sense that certain studios would want to try and adapt one of the biggest shared universes in literary fiction: the Stephen King multiverse.
Of course, Sony previously tried to do just that with its "Dark Tower" movie in 2017, and it was a huge catastrophe. But now we have celebrated horror storyteller Mike Flanagan in charge of bringing King's world to the screen again, with Flanagan developing a "Dark Tower" TV series that King himself thinks will be "perfect." Yet, ahead of that, it seems Flanagan has just soft-launched a second Stephen King universe on TV with Prime Video's "Carrie."
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