Mike Flanagan is adapting another Stephen King novel called Revival and he has shared an update on its progress.
Flanagan is well known for his work in the horror genre, being behind the likes of The Haunting of Hill House for Netflix and two Stephen King adaptations (Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep).
Flanagan is at it again with another King adaptation, this time for the book Revival. Speaking on The Kingcast, Flanagan revealed that the screenplay is now complete and that Stephen King himself “loves it.”
“What I love about it is it’s a return to cosmic horror which I think is so fun. It is relentlessly dark and cynical and I’m enjoying the hell out of that. I think a lot of King’s work is like this too, there’s a safety in the sentimental approach to a lot of those stories and this is just bleak and mean and I like it for that. I haven’t gotten to end a movie that way since, geez, Absentia maybe? Maybe Ouija?”
SEE ALSO: Stephen King suggested Doctor Sleep director change a scene as it was too “brutal”
Flanagan says some critics of his projects say they end too sentimentally so he is looking forward to showing how dark he can go with Revival: “This one was a really fun piece of material for me because I get to be like ‘Oh you want a dark ending? Cool, get ready.’”
He also mentioned that he is unsure how the studio will react to the dark ending but that he has King for backup if needed: “It’s a lot easier to do, I can talk a big game when I’ve got Stephen King in my corner advocating for the same ending.”
Published back in 2014, Revival explores “the relationship between a heroin-addicted musician and a dubious faith healer with a hidden agenda. The minister is obsessed with trying to find a way to communicate with his departed wife and child but ends up connecting to a Lovecraftian horror.”
