Mike Flanagan and Stephen King Reunite for a New Film Adaptation of THE MIST at Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Pictures is diving back into Stephen King’s nightmare fuel in a big way. The studio is bringing Mike Flanagan and Stephen King together again for a new feature film adaptation of The Mist, based on King’s chilling 1980 novella.
If you’re a fan of King’s darker, more human horror stories and Flanagan’s emotionally sharp filmmaking, this is a pairing that is pretty exciting!
Flanagan is set to both write and direct the film, continuing his deep creative relationship with King’s work. He’ll also produce through his Red Room banner alongside Tyler Thompson, with Spyglass’ Gary Barber and Chris Stone producing as well. The project is being developed at Warner Bros. Pictures.
The Mist drops us into a small Maine town suddenly swallowed by an unnatural, blinding fog. Inside that mist are creatures that turn everyday survival into a waking nightmare.
A group of townspeople barricade themselves inside a local grocery store, hoping it’s safer indoors. As with many King stories, the real horror doesn’t stop at monsters. Fear and desperation start tearing people apart from the inside, triggering mob mentality and giving power to dangerous extremists who may be just as lethal as anything lurking outside.
The novella originally appeared in King’s short story collection Skeleton Crew and has already seen life as both a 2007 feature film and a 2017 TV series. There’s also a great audio drama that was recorded in “3D Sound” which I listed to all the time growing up.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the 2007 movie directed by Frank Darabont and starring Thomas Jane. Yeah, that ending punched audiences right in the gut and was pretty controversial, but it was a damn solid adaptation.
Fun personal trivia here. I actually caught a sneak peek of that movie before it hit theaters and wrote up a review that I sent to Ain’t It Cool News back in the day. That ended up being my first published piece on a movie geek blog.
That experience lit a fire under me, and about a year later my friend Free and I launched GeekTyrant. So yeah, The Mist has some history for me.
Flanagan has been living comfortably in King’s world for years now, and his track record speaks for itself. He previously directed Gerald’s Game, delivered a powerful follow-up to Kubrick with Doctor Sleep, and brought the deeply emotional Life of Chuck to the screen.
He’s also been developing a new adaptation of King’s first published novel, Carrie, as a miniseries for Amazon Prime, and he’s working on The Dark Tower.
A new The Mist movie feels like the right story at the right time, especially with Flanagan steering it. This isn’t just about monsters in the fog. It’s about fear, power, belief, and how fast society can crack under pressure.
With Warner Bros. backing it and Flanagan and King back in business, this is sure to end up being one seriously intense ride.