There are monster movies, there are great monster movies, and then there is Frank Darabont’s The Mist, a film that still manages to make us uncomfortable every time we think about that ending. If you have seen it, you know exactly what we mean. If you have not, well, we are not about to ruin it for you here. Just know that Darabont did not exactly send audiences home with warm, fuzzy feelings.
Now another filmmaker is stepping into the fog, and horror fans have a pretty interesting reason to be excited. Mike Flanagan is currently writing his new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist, and according to the filmmaker, the screenplay is actively moving forward.
Collider caught up with Flanagan during the Toronto International Film Festival, where he revealed that he was already working on the script while traveling to the festival.
When asked about the project, Flanagan simply said,
“I’m writing it right now. I was working on it on the airplane here.”
The screenplay is expected to be completed around Halloween, giving fans a little more reason to keep this one on the horror radar. There is still plenty we do not know about Flanagan’s version, but one thing has already been made clear: this is not going to be a simple remake of Darabont’s 2007 film.
That distinction is important because Darabont’s The Mist is already regarded by many horror fans as one hell of an adaptation. Flanagan has acknowledged as much himself, previously explaining that both The Mist and his upcoming take on Carrie needed to find their own paths rather than simply recreate what had already been accomplished.
Flanagan has also been very open about his admiration for Darabont’s movie, particularly its famously devastating conclusion. He described the film as one of the most brutal movies he has ever seen and said his approach to the story will be very different from Darabont’s. Flanagan also discussed his ideas with King, who reportedly remains a fan of Darabont’s film.
That gives us a pretty important piece of information about where this new adaptation is headed. Flanagan is not trying to replace Darabont’s The Mist. He is looking for another way into King’s material, which could make this less of a remake and more of a new interpretation of a story horror fans already know.
Flanagan has spent years moving comfortably between intimate character driven horror and some seriously unsettling supernatural territory, so watching him tackle the creatures lurking beyond that wall of mist is certainly intriguing. We still have a long way to go before we see what he has planned, but knowing the screenplay is being written right now is a damn good start.
For now, we will be watching the calendar creep toward Halloween and wondering exactly what Flanagan has been cooking up in that fog.
