Even Stephen King doubted there was anything new to do with Carrie: Mike Flanagan's Prime Video release date, cast and all 8 episodes

All eight episodes of Carrie premiered on Prime Video on October 7, 2026, in more than 240 countries and territories, per Amazon. It's the first time King's 1974 debut novel has been turned into a TV series, and getting there took some convincing.

"Leave her alone"

When Flanagan first floated a Carrie show to King, the author's answer, as Flanagan recalled it in 2024, was blunt:

"Well, why? Leave her alone. She's good, she's done."

— Stephen King

Flanagan had the same instinct. At TIFF in September 2026, he told TheWrap his first reaction was also "why?", given that Brian De Palma had already done it beautifully. "But the thing never really let me alone," he said. He promised himself he wouldn't go ahead without King's blessing, sent the author an outline of how the series could work, and King came around.

To be fair to both of them, Carrie has been through a lot. There was De Palma's 1976 film, which got Oscar nominations for Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie; a 1988 Broadway musical that closed after five performances; the 1999 sequel The Rage: Carrie 2; a 2002 NBC TV movie; and Kimberly Peirce's 2013 remake with Chloë Grace Moretz.

What's different this time

In this version, Carrie (Summer H. Howell, picked from more than 1,000 actors who auditioned) has been homeschooled by her mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan), until her father's sudden death forces her into public high school. Flanagan's pitch rested on what changes when the bullies have smartphones. As he put it to Variety, the locker room scene "when people have phones in their hands is a whole different thing."

King has since watched it:

"Mike Flanagan's version of CARRIE is brilliant."

— Stephen King, on Threads

In the same post, as Deadline reported, he added that the show's take on social media rang true. His son, novelist Joe Hill, said the trailer alone had him fighting back tears. Critics are mostly on board, too: the series sat at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes from more than 70 reviews on the eve of its release.

The cast also includes Siena Agudong as Sue Snell, Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen, Joel Oulette as Tommy Ross, Josie Totah as Tina Blake, Arthur Conti as Billy Nolan, Thalia Dudek as Emaline, Amber Midthunder as Miss Desjardin, and Matthew Lillard as Principal Grayle. Flanagan wrote the series and directed four episodes, the first two and the last two, with Kate Siegel, Axelle Carolyn, Kyra Sedgwick, and Hiromi Kamata directing the rest.

All 8 episodes

There's no weekly schedule: Prime Video released the whole season at once, at 12 a.m. PT / 3 a.m. ET. Every title is a class period, which is either very clever or very ominous, depending on how well you know the ending:

1. "First Period" — October 7, 2026
2. "Foreign Language" — October 7, 2026
3. "Social Studies" — October 7, 2026
4. "Dramatic Arts" — October 7, 2026
5. "Physical Education" — October 7, 2026
6. "Home Economics" — October 7, 2026
7. "Romantic Literature" — October 7, 2026
8. "AP Physics" — October 7, 2026

Flanagan, for the record, has floated the idea of Carrie running as a trilogy.