Mike Flanagan assures Stephen King fans that his new take on The Mist "won't be a retread" of Frank Darabont's iconic film: "The differences start page 1"

Mike Flanagan says he has no plans to remake Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's novella The Mist, and that we're in store for something totally different.

"If there wasn’t an excellent answer to 'why,' I wouldn’t do it. I love Darabont's film, and there's zero point in remaking it, Flanagan wrote on BlueSky. "Which is why I’m going in a different direction. I learned a long ago never to try to predict what the fans will or won’t argue about… but yeah, this isn’t a retread. The differences start page 1.”

After taking on The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep, Gerald's Game, and The Life of Chuck, it was announced earlier this month that the filmmaker would helm a new adaptation of The Mist. The 1980 novella, which I'd file under King's more disturbing works, follows a man named David Drayton who takes shelter in a supermarket after a strangely dense mist surrounds the small town of Bridgton, Maine. Hidden amongst the murkiness is an unending supply of monsters, and the town, understandably, launches into a kind of mass hysteria that truly only King could come up with.

Darabont, who is also responsible for The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, changed the ending from the book to something much more devastating... and it's a scene that frequently makes the top ten in lists like "saddest movie endings" and "best horror movie endings," in addition to putting the movie as a whole on the list of best Stephen King adaptations. I'm interested to see what Flanagan decides to do with the ending, and if he'll keep it book-accurate...

The Mist does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way, or check out the ever-growing list of upcoming Stephen King adaptations.