Mike Flanagan's Adaptation Of Stephen King's Darkest Work Is Officially One Step Closer To Release

Published Sep 16, 2026, 10:27 AM EDT

Ryan Northrup is a Senior Staff Writer on ScreenRant's Movie & TV News team, where he has authored nearly 5,000 articles, including features and reviews. A graduate of McMaster University, Ryan began his career in public relations before attending Vancouver Film School. There, he built lasting industry connections and optioned a feature film screenplay.

Mike Flanagan's take on The Mist is inching closer.

Released in 1980, The Mist is a novella by Stephen King that follows a group of citizens trapped inside a grocery store after a supernatural fog engulfs their small Maine town. The story has now been adapted twice, including a Frank Darabont movie from 2007 and a short-lived 2017 TV show, and Flanagan is now confirmed to be making a new version for the big screen.

During a recent interview at TIFF to promote his adaptation of King's Carrie, Flanagan addresses his progress on The Mist, telling Collider that he's actively making progress on the screenplay. “I’m writing it right now,” Flanagan reveals. “I was working on it on the airplane here.”

Flanagan says the script is due to be turned in to Warner Bros. around Halloween, and that he plans to continue chipping away at it throughout his time at TIFF and on upcoming plane journeys. In terms of the deadline, though, Flanagan uses the phrase "I think." With no cast attached, the adaptation could still be quite a ways away from going to camera.

Flanagan has become something of a go-to adapter of King's work. So far, Flanagan's King adaptations include Gerald's Game (2017), Doctor Sleep (2019), and The Life of Chuck (2024). In addition to his upcoming Carrie TV show for Prime Video and The Mist, Flanagan is also attached to bring a new version of The Dark Tower to life.

The Mist has never quite been up there with The Shining, IT, Misery, or Carrie as one of the author's most iconic stories, but it certainly has a passionate following. The tale is mysterious, gruesome, and sinister, and Darabont's 2007 movie has actually added to the story's reputation in some interesting ways.

The ending of Darabont's The Mist is legendarily bleak. It departs from King's source material fairly significantly, concluding the story on a truly shocking and bleak note for Thomas Jane's protagonist, David. Without delving too far into spoiler territory, King himself has praised just how nihilistic the ending is, calling it "terrific" in a 2017 interview with Yahoo! Entertainment.

It remains to be seen how Flanagan will adapt King's story and its ending, but he did tease to EW in July that his approach to the story will be "very different" from Darabont's. Flanagan's existing King adaptations have all fared generally well with critics, suggesting the adaptation is in good hands. Gerald's Game has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Doctor Sleep has a 79% and The Life of Chuck has an 80%.

Though reviews haven't been released yet, the first reactions to Carrie out of an early two-episode screening are overwhelmingly positive. Premiering on Prime Video on October 7, the series being a hit could certainly increase anticipation for Flanagan's take on The Mist.

Many questions remain about the upcoming adaptation of The Mist, but Flanagan is evidently keeping very busy, with his new take on The Exorcist slated to release next March. His take on the 1980 King novella is still a few years away at the earliest, but Flanagan's latest comment suggests strong progress is being made behind the scenes.