Filmmaker Mike Flanagan may not go back to the well that created his horror hit Midnight Mass for quite some time. The show, which he created and directed, was a horror miniseries that starred an ensemble cast that included Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford, Igby Rigney, Kristin Lehman, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Annabeth Gish, Alex Essoe, Matt Biedel, Michael Trucco, Henry Thomas, and, Hamish Linklater, many of whom have collaborated with Flanagan on other projects. Midnight Mass was a critical smash success, earning a Certified Fresh 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes and going on to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
The Mike Flanagan Netflix horror project is one of many well-regarded works the filmmaker has helmed over the course of his career, the majority of which have been in the horror genre. In fact, over the course of his career, he has never directed anything that has earned a splat on Rotten Tomatoes, with the closest he has come to earning a Rotten score being the 2016 Jacob Tremblay fantasy-horror movie Before I Wake, which had a delayed 2018 theatrical release after its festival premiere. However, there is one major facet of his earlier career missing from his upcoming filmography.
Mike Flanagan’s Future Projects Are Stephen King Adaptations & Horror Reboots
He Is Working Exclusively With Well-Known IP
Just as he frequently collaborates with the same actors, Flanagan has found himself frequently adapting the works of Stephen King with projects including the movies Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and the upcoming The Life of Chuck. His King adaptations, along with works adapting a variety of other horror authors, have seen him working primarily in IP-driven properties in recent years rather than creating original projects. In fact, his entire upcoming slate of work is entirely composed of adaptations and reboots, as can be seen below:
Title | Status |
|---|---|
The Life of Chuck | Confirmed – Coming in 2025 |
Untitled The Exorcist Movie | Confirmed |
The Dark Tower Series | Rights Acquired |
Two of the upcoming Mike Flanagan movies and TV shows are King adaptations while the third, a new installment in Blumhouse’s arm of the Exorcist franchise, is an entry in a movie franchise inspired by the original novel by William Peter Blatty. He had also been working on an adaptation of the Christopher Pike novel The Season of Passage, which is no longer moving forward after being announced in 2021.
Mike Flanagan’s 2022 Netflix series
The Midnight Club
was also a Christopher Pike adaptation.
Even when expanding beyond the scope of his work as a director, his new and upcoming projects are all derivative works in some way shape or form. This includes a segment he wrote for the found footage anthology sequel V/H/S/Beyond, which was was directed by his frequent collaborator and wife Kate Siegel. He is likewise set to appear in the role of Peter in the remake of the cult movie The Room, titled The Room Returns!, which he also produced.
Mike Flanagan’s Last Original Project Was Midnight Mass
He Has Exclusively Made Adaptations For Three Years
In addition to his upcoming slate of projects being entirely made up of adaptations and franchise projects, Mike Flanagan has not made an original project since Midnight Mass premiered on Netflix in September 2021. Including The Life of Chuck, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, between Midnight Mass and the time of writing, he has released three projects. The other two were the Christopher Pike adaptation The Midnight Club and the Edgar Allan Poe adaptation The Fall of the House of Usher.
Both
The Midnight Club
and
The Fall of the House of Usher
were Netflix streaming series just like
Midnight Mass
.
In the lead-up to Midnight Mass, Mike Flanagan had already begun dabbling in adaptations and franchise filmmaking outside of his Stephen King movies. This began when he re-teamed with Blumhouse after partnering with the studio on his movies Oculus and Hush by making the prequel Ouiija: Origin of Evil in 2016. His first Netflix series to make a splash, The Haunting of Hill House, was also an adaptation, bringing to life the 1959 Shirley Jackson novel of the same name, while its follow-up The Haunting of Bly Manor adapted the Henry James novella The Turn of the Screw.
Will Mike Flanagan Do More Original Projects?
The Prospect Seems Likely
While Mike Flanagan’s post-Midnight Mass filmography has taken a turn away from original horror, it seems likely that he will eventually return to original storytelling. The fact that he made Midnight Mass in the first place after a run of successful adaptations shows that he was willing to put his weight behind a project without a foundation in an existing story. Especially if he continues to find similar success with his upcoming adaptations, it seems probable that he will continue to use his clout to pursue original stories that interest him when his schedule allows for it.
