Prime Video Renews Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King Series ‘Carrie’ for Season 2

Mike Flanagan and Stephen King’s Carrie will return for a second season. Amazon MGM Studios confirmed the news Thursday in an official announcement, following the show’s chart-topping debut on Prime Video. Flanagan and King are both set to come back. Season 2 will send the psychokinetic high schooler into uncharted territory, given how season 1 ended.

Season 2 has long been part of Flanagan’s plan for his modern interpretation of King’s debut novel.

Carrie is Prime Video’s latest streaming hit

Since its debut in early October, Carrie has topped Prime Video’s weekly global TV series rankings. It reached No. 1 in more than 105 countries. Amazon MGM Studios teased that “Carrie’s story doesn’t stop at Prom – it’s far from over.” The studio promised new revelations, major character arcs and “plenty of shocking twists.”

“For 50 years, audiences have known and gravitated to Carrie White’s story,” said showrunner Mike Flanagan (Midnight Mass) in a news release. “From the beginning, we imagined a story that goes far beyond the prom, and I’m incredibly grateful for Stephen’s trust and support in exploring what comes next.”

Executive producer Stephen King said, “I can’t wait for audiences to get to see what’s down the road for Carrie White. Mike Flanagan and I are excited about what comes next. It’s bound to be thrilling.”

Peter Friedlander, head of global television at Amazon MGM Studios, pointed to the show’s audience. “Carrie is connecting with both longtime Stephen King fans and a new generation altogether — including young adults and international audiences, with particular strength among female viewers,” he said. He added, “It speaks to the enduring power of this story and signals that Mike Flanagan’s reimagining of the iconic IP has real breadth. We’re excited by where he and Stephen plan to take the story.”

Cast and story

Carrie stars Summer H. Howell in the title role, with Samantha Sloyan as Carrie’s mother, Margaret White. The official synopsis reads: “After her father’s sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence.”

The supporting cast includes:

• Siena Agudong as Sue Snell
• Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen
• Joel Oulette as Tommy Ross
• Josie Totah as Tina
• Arthur Conti as Billy
• Thalia Dudek as Emaline
• Amber Midthunder as Miss Desjardin
• Matthew Lillard as Principal Grayle

Dudek will presumably return for season 2.

Carrie has found favor with both audiences and critics. In Polygon’s positive review of season 1, entertainment editor Jake Kleinman wrote, “Flanagan’s biggest risk (and the one that will almost undeniably get people talking) is the way he messes with his source material.” He noted that the series draws surprising connections to King’s wider connected universe, something the book and De Palma’s version never did. Kleinman observed that Carrie was King’s first novel, so there was nothing to connect it to at the time. He wrote that King would almost definitely have set part of it in Castle Rock, Maine, or teased a link to private investigator Holly Gibney if he had written it decades later. In Kleinman’s words, Flanagan takes the bait, and whether he succeeds “feels inconclusive.”

Related reading: Carrie star says Mike Flanagan’s new Stephen King remake “transcends horror”.

Source: Polygon