Mike Flanagan’s Next Stephen King Adaptation Is ‘The Mist’

Mike Flanagan isn’t done adapting the works of Stephen King.

Following this Halloween season’s upcoming Carrie series for Prime Video, the filmmaker is now working on his next King project: a new movie adaptation of The Mist.

Flanagan recently provided an update on the highly anticipated project during an interview with Collider, revealing that he’s currently writing the screenplay.

“I’m writing it right now,” Flanagan said. “I was working on it on the airplane here.”

The filmmaker also revealed that he plans to turn in the screenplay around Halloween.

While Frank Darabont’s 2007 movie adaptation of The Mist remains a fan favorite, Flanagan has made it clear that his version won’t simply recreate the existing film.

In posts on Bluesky, Flanagan explained that he loves Darabont’s movie but sees little reason to remake it if he isn’t bringing something substantially different to the story.

“This isn’t a retread. The differences start page 1,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan also pushed back against the idea that adapting a story that has already been filmed is unnecessary, pointing to several of his previous projects, including The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Fall of the House of Usher, Carrie, The Exorcist, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and The Life of Chuck.

For The Mist, Flanagan will write and direct the new feature based on King’s novella, which was originally published in the 1980 anthology Dark Forces before being included in King’s 1985 collection Skeleton Crew.

The story takes place in a small Maine town suddenly engulfed by a mysterious mist filled with deadly creatures. A group of survivors barricades themselves inside a grocery store, but the monsters outside aren’t the only threat. As fear takes over, paranoia and extremism begin tearing the survivors apart from within.

Darabont’s 2007 film previously brought the story to the big screen, while a short-lived television series later attempted to expand The Mist for the small screen.

Flanagan’s adaptation will offer another interpretation of King’s story, with the filmmaker promising that audiences shouldn’t expect a simple remake of Darabont’s film.