‘Carrie’ Is Coming to Prime Video: Everything We Know About Mike Flanagan’s Bloody New Take

Carrie White is heading back to the screen, but this time, Stephen King’s iconic character has eight episodes to tell her story. Prime Video is bringing Carrie to television with a new adaptation from Mike Flanagan, the filmmaker behind The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass and Doctor Sleep.

The upcoming series marks the first time King's 1974 novel has been adapted as a television series, following several previous film versions of the story. With a new Carrie, a modern approach to the bullying at the center of King's story and plenty of familiar faces in the cast, Flanagan has considerably more time to explore Carrie White's world than previous adaptations did. Here's everything we know about Prime Video's Carrie before all eight episodes arrive in October.

What Is Prime Video's Carrie About?

At the center of the story is still Carrie White, the isolated teenager whose adolescence becomes intertwined with the emergence of powerful telekinetic abilities. Prime Video's version begins with Carrie having spent much of her life sheltered at home by her fiercely protective mother, Margaret.

Following the sudden death of her father, Carrie enters public high school and finds herself dealing with a world she is completely unprepared to navigate. That's also where this Carrie begins bringing King's story firmly into the present day.

Carrie becomes the target of a viral bullying scandal while trying to survive the cruelty and pressure of growing up in the social-media age. At the same time, her mysterious telekinetic abilities begin emerging, and anyone familiar with Carrie knows those are not exactly ideal circumstances for keeping powerful emotions under control.

Prime Video says the eight-episode format will allow the adaptation to expand the characters and tensions surrounding Carrie while examining the smaller decisions that ultimately build toward the story's infamous climax. That additional time could give this adaptation room to explore parts of Carrie's life and the people around her that previous film versions had to condense.

Who Plays Carrie White?

Summer H. Howell takes over one of horror's most recognizable roles as Carrie White. Howell previously appeared in projects including Curse of Chucky and Hunter Hunter, but landing Carrie required beating out some serious competition.

According to Prime Video, more than 1,000 actors read for the role before Howell was selected to lead the series. She follows several actresses who have previously played Carrie onscreen, most famously Sissy Spacek in Brian De Palma's 1976 film adaptation.

Angela Bettis later played the character in the 2002 television movie, while Chloë Grace Moretz took on the role in the 2013 film. This time, Howell will have eight episodes rather than roughly two hours to explore Carrie's transformation and relationships.

Who Else Is in the Carrie Cast?

Samantha Sloyan plays Carrie's mother, Margaret White, giving Flanagan fans a familiar face after her previous appearances in projects including Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher. The ensemble also includes Siena Agudong as Sue Snell, Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen, Joel Oulette as Tommy Ross, Josie Totah as Tina, Arthur Conti as Billy and Thalia Dudek as Emaline.

There are some particularly recognizable names among the adults at Carrie's school. Prey star Amber Midthunder plays Miss Desjardin, while Scream and Five Nights at Freddy's star Matthew Lillard plays Principal Grayle, giving the adult side of the cast some serious horror credentials of its own.

Mike Flanagan Is Taking on Another Stephen King Story

If there is one filmmaker who has become very comfortable entering Stephen King's world, it's Flanagan. He serves as Carrie's showrunner, writer and executive producer and directs four of the eight episodes, while King is also an executive producer on the series.

The project continues Flanagan's long relationship with King's work following his film adaptations of Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep, the latter of which served as a sequel to The Shining. He also directed The Life of Chuck, based on King's novella.

Giving Carrie an entire season instead of another feature film creates room to spend considerably more time with Carrie, Margaret and the students surrounding them before the story reaches the events that have made it a horror landmark for more than 50 years. It also gives Flanagan the opportunity to approach a very familiar story through a format that none of the previous screen adaptations had.

How Is This Carrie Different?

The biggest immediately apparent change is the time period, since King's novel was published in 1974, long before a humiliating moment at school could be recorded on a phone and spread across social media before the final bell rang. Prime Video's adaptation explicitly incorporates that reality into Carrie's experience, with a viral bullying scandal becoming part of her story.

That doesn't necessarily change the central themes of Carrie. Bullying, isolation, cruelty, adolescence, religious extremism and the consequences of how people treat one another have always been baked into King's story, but the new series has a very different world in which to explore them.

Modern technology also changes how quickly humiliation can spread and how difficult it can be for someone to escape it once they leave school. And somehow the thought of Chris Hargensen having access to social media makes us even more nervous.

Is There a Carrie Trailer?

Prime Video has released the official trailer, giving viewers their best look yet at Howell's Carrie, Sloyan's Margaret and Flanagan's expanded version of the story. The footage makes it clear that Carrie's experience with bullying has been updated for a generation where humiliation doesn't necessarily end when someone leaves school.

The trailer also offers glimpses of Carrie's developing abilities and the increasingly dangerous consequences surrounding them. For anyone who already knows where this story eventually leads, there are naturally a few ominous signs along the way without needing to reveal exactly how this adaptation will get there.

When Does Carrie Premiere?

All eight episodes of Carrie premiere Wednesday, Oct. 7 exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories, so there won't be a weekly wait to find out how Flanagan's version unfolds. Viewers will be able to experience the entire story at once, from Carrie's arrival at public school through whatever Flanagan has planned for that night longtime fans know is coming.

We've seen Carrie adapted before, but an eight-episode television version from Flanagan offers something genuinely different from another feature-length retelling. Between the expanded format, modern setting and new cast, there are plenty of reasons to keep an eye on Carrie's return , preferably from a safe distance once things start floating.