Carrie Star Matthew Lillard Teases Mike Flanagan Finally Adapting Key Stephen King Book Details Missing From OG Movie

One of Stephen King’s most famous novels is being remade yet again. Still, this time by the iconic horror series creator Mike Flanagan, and one of its stars, Matthew Lillard, addresses what fans can expect from the new Carrie series.

Carrie is a novel released in 1974 by the iconic horror author King, and has been adapted a few times, including the original released in 1976. The 1976 movie was directed by Brian De Palma and received great critical acclaim, with a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. One of the most recent adaptations starred Chloë Grace Moretz in 2013, which wasn’t received as well and only achieved a 51% rating.

Now, Flanagan is taking the novel on with an eight-episode miniseries for Prime Video, and in an interview with ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan for the original series Going Method, Lillard addresses concerns about the upcoming series and how faithful it will be to King’s novel. Lillard confirmed production had wrapped for the series and addressed key points missing from De Palma’s adaptation of Carrie that will now be interpreted into Flanagan’s version of the novel.

Matthew Lillard: We finished the six-month shoot in Vancouver just before Christmas. It was awesome. So much fun.
In case you don’t know, Carrie had a movie that came out. Brian De Palma shot it with Sissy Spacek. There’s this iconic image of her being covered in blood at the prom. All of that is great. It’s a very specific portion of the book that was pulled in to make that movie. That book is pretty dense and has this rich tapestry of things that weren’t in the De Palma film.
So, Mike [Flanagan] went back, pulled out other elements from the book, then took real-life examples of what’s happening with bullying in America and applied them to this new adaptation. He’s literally ripping things from the headlines and applying them to modern day so that people can relate to what Carrie’s going through. He then really looked at it from three points of view. It’s the parents and how they deal with it. It’s the faculty at the high school, where I play the principal, and then there are the kids.
And I think what sets it apart is that Mike is an incredible storyteller. He’s so good, and I think he’s particularly good at Stephen King. His tempo, the way he approaches the work, and the honesty with which he’s building characters are great. It has an incredible cast of young actors. Summer Howell plays Carrie, and she’s incredible. Samantha Sloyan plays the mother, which is an iconic part that’s a star-making turn for her.
I’m really excited. For me, being in Mike Flanagan’s world is one of the best things that ever happened in my career. Just being amongst those people, they become friends. And that has been just an unbelievable experience.

The story of Carrie follows a misfit high-schooler who has spent her life isolated with her religious and strict mother. After her father’s sudden death, Carrie must find her way in the world and face her mother while finding her place in high school as the bullying escalates to a peak and Carrie’s mysterious telekinetic powers become uncontrollable.

The series will star Summer H. Howell as Carrie White, Samantha Sloyan as Margaret White, Siena Agudong as Sue Snell, Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen, Josie Toah as Tina Blake, Arthur Conti as Billy Nolan, Joel Oulette as Tommy Ross, Amber Midthunder as Rita Desjardian, and Matthew Lillard as Principal Grayle. With some guest stars including Heather Graham, Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Rahul Kohli, and more.

Carrie will be Flanagan’s fourth adaptation of King’s work after Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck, with plans to adapt The Mist. It has been revealed that Prime Video’s Carrie will be released around October 2026, but at the time of writing has no definitive release date.