Although right now isn’t the most promising time in regards to exciting new films entering development and production, director Mike Flanagan is prepping work on his newest feature, yet another Stephen King adaptation titled “Revival.” And While speaking on the Kingcast podcast, Flanagan touches on his forthcoming directorial outing, hinting at what the tone for the film might be.
Flanagan describes “Revival” as “bleak and mean,” and specifies the genre as “cosmic horror.”
He said, “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.”
The narrative of “Revival,” as told in King’s novel, takes place over the course of five years, and focuses on a central relationship between a despondent minister and a young boy. As the young boy becomes further involved in drug use and is plagued by familial turmoil, these conflicts begin to affect both characters’ faith.
After Andy Muschietti’s “It” became both a critical and financial success for Warner Bros. in 2017, it seemed like every studio who had their hands on Stephen King IP green-lit those projects for immediate development. The films that came to fruition included “Gerald’s Game,” “1922,” “Pet Sematary,” “It: Chapter Two,” “In the Tall Grass,” and, most recently, Mike Flanagan’s “Doctor Sleep.” While most of these films – especially “Doctor Sleep” – didn’t enjoy the same box office success as “It” (some were released on streaming services exclusively), they each boasted their own fair share of buzzy word-of-mouth acclaim.
This is best evidenced with “Doctor Sleep,” which just celebrated another wave of online discourse and reverence from its fanbase last week, after becoming available on HBO Max.
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While there is, of course, a wide appreciation for King’s source material, many are even more excited by Mike Flanagan’s notably consistent string of horror projects over the past couple of years. From “Oculus” (2013), “Hush” (2016), and “Ouija: Origin of Evil” (2016), to the more recent “Gerald’s Game” (2017) and the highly popular Netflix series “The Haunting of Hill House” (2018), Flanagan has been reliable in providing a strong, consistent voice to the horror genre, all while properly garnering affection in the process.
Considering this, it’s no mystery why many fans are on the edge of their seats to see what Flanagan does next – and now “Revival” seems to fit the bill.