Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan (born May 20, 1978) is an American filmmaker, best known for his horror work. Flanagan wrote, directed, and edited the films Absentia, Oculus (2013), Hush, Before I Wake, Ouija: Origin of Evil (all 2016), Gerald's Game (2017), Doctor Sleep (2019), The Life of Chuck (2024), and the upcoming The Exorcist: Martyrs (2027). He also wrote the first draft of the script for the upcoming film Clayface (2026) for the DC Universe. He created, wrote, produced, and served as showrunner on the Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), The Midnight Club (2022), and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), and the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series Carrie (2026).

Flanagan often works with the same cast and crew members. His most frequent collaborators include his wife, actress Kate Siegel, who has been featured in most of his works since Oculus and co-wrote the screenplay of Hush. Other frequent collaborators include Samantha Sloyan, Carla Gugino, Rahul Kohli, Karen Gillan, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Trucco, Annalise Basso, Henry Thomas, Stephen King, and Mark Hamill.

Early life Mike Flanagan was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on May 20, 1978, from parents Timothy and Laura Flanagan. He has a younger sibling, Jamie. Their family moved around often due to his father's job in the U.S. Coast Guard, at one point living on Governors Island. Though their time in Salem was brief, it left an impression on Mike, and he retained an interest in both the Salem witch trials and associated topics such as ghost stories and horror fiction.

Growing up, Flanagan made amateur short films with his family's video camera. including Scott Graham, whom Flanagan met at Towson. Graham would go on to star in Flanagan's 2006 short film, Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan, which he made for $1,500. After its surprise success, Flanagan continued to shop Oculus around. Intrepid Pictures took an interest in the concept and agreed to let Flanagan direct. The feature version of Oculus was filmed in 2012 and released theatrically by Relativity Media in 2014.

Flanagan shot his next film, Before I Wake, in 2013. It was acquired by Relativity Media in 2014 and was originally scheduled for release on May 8, 2015, but was pushed back to September 25, 2015, and later pulled from the schedule entirely when the company filed for bankruptcy. After a year in bankruptcy court, Relativity announced that Before I Wake would be released on April 8, 2016, but missed that date as the company struggled to get back on its feet. The film was then scheduled for September 9, 2016, but Relativity once again pulled the film three weeks ahead of this date, prompting a public argument between Flanagan and Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh on Twitter; Kavanaugh claimed September 9 was a "bad date" while Flanagan suggested that Relativity was financially unable to release the film. Relativity never released the film as Kavanaugh sold the company to Singaporean social network YuuZoo in October 2016, with Netflix eventually acquiring the rights to the film and releasing it in January 2018.

Flanagan wrote and directed Ouija: Origin of Evil, which starred Elizabeth Reaser, Henry Thomas, and Annalise Basso. Production began in September 2015, and the film was released in October 2016, grossing over $81 million worldwide. Around the same time, it was revealed that Flanagan had been working on a "secret project" called Hush. Written in 2014 and filmed in March 2015, the project was kept confidential until a screening at the Toronto Film Festival. Written by Flanagan and lead actress Kate Siegel, and also starring John Gallagher Jr., Michael Trucco, and Samantha Sloyan, the film had its world premiere at SXSW in March 2016 and was released exclusively on Netflix on April 8, 2016 to positive reviews. In 2017 Flanagan directed, wrote, and edited the psychological horror film Gerald's Game, based on the 1992 novel of the same title by Stephen King. The film was released on Netflix on September 29, 2017 to critical acclaim. King called the film "hypnotic, horrifying and terrific" after watching the rough cut.

In 2018, Flanagan created, wrote, directed, produced, and edited the Netflix supernatural horror series The Haunting of Hill House, based on Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name. In 2019, Flanagan wrote and directed the horror film Doctor Sleep, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, itself the sequel to his previous novel The Shining. Ewan McGregor stars as the older version of Danny Torrance in the film, which was released in November. In February 2019, The Haunting of Hill House was renewed for a stand-alone second season, titled The Haunting of Bly Manor, based on the novel The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. It premiered in 2020. Around the same time, it was also announced that Flanagan had signed an exclusive overall deal with Netflix to produce television content.

In July 2019, as part of that overall deal, Netflix ordered Flanagan's original horror series Midnight Mass. Flanagan wrote, directed and served as showrunner on the seven-episode series, which was released in September 2021 to critical acclaim after a production delay in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020s–present In May 2020, it was announced that Flanagan would adapt numerous novels by Christopher Pike into a new series, titled The Midnight Club, for Netflix. Flanagan co-created the series and serves as executive producer and showrunner.

In October 2021, it was announced that Flanagan would create The Fall of the House of Usher, an eight-episode limited series for Netflix based on the short story of the same name and other works by Edgar Allan Poe. Flanagan directed four episodes of the series, with the other four helmed by his longtime cinematographer Michael Fimognari.

In May 2023, it was announced that Flanagan would adapt King's drama novella The Life of Chuck from the short story collection If It Bleeds into a feature film starring Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2024, where it won the People's Choice Award and was released in theaters of June 6, 2025.

In May 2024, Flanagan launched his own company, Red Room Pictures. In July 2024, Flanagan was confirmed to write a segment for V/H/S/Beyond, which was titled Stowaway, and released exclusively on Shudder on October 4, 2024.

Upcoming projects In December 2022, Flanagan signed a first-look overall TV deal with Amazon Studios. Flanagan also owns the television rights to The Dark Tower, a series of fantasy novels written by Stephen King.

By May 2024, Flanagan was in talks to direct the next film in The Exorcist franchise. Later that month, Flanagan was confirmed to be directing a new Exorcist film as a reboot with plans for a new trilogy being scrapped following the reception of The Exorcist: Believer. The film was originally scheduled for release on March 13, 2026, but Flanagan revealed in a Tumblr post that the film was not going to begin production until after he finished work on the miniseries adaptation of Carrie and that there was "no way it's coming out next March." The film, titled The Exorcist: Martyrs and starring Scarlett Johansson, is set for release on March 12, 2027.

In October 2024, Flanagan announced he was developing a television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie novel for Amazon MGM Studios. Carrie is expected to premiere on October 7, 2026, on Amazon Prime Video.

In December 2024, Flanagan was attached to a film based on the DC Comics character Clayface, a project he had initially pitched to DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran in March 2023. He is set to write the project while the studio searched for a director amidst his ongoing commitments to The Exorcist reboot and the Carrie series. Clayface was greenlit that month as a film set in Gunn and Safran's DC Universe (DCU) franchise, with the pair producing alongside The Batman (2022) director Matt Reeves and Lynn Harris from Reeves' studio 6th & Idaho Productions, scheduled for release on September 11, 2026. By February 21, 2025, James Watkins was chosen to direct the film. In May 2025, it was announced that Hossein Amini had been hired to rewrite the script and that Flanagan was no longer involved in the project and said he expected Watkins to "make it [his] own", but he hoped the film would remain true to the spirit of what he originally wanted it to be.

In February 2026, it was announced that Flanagan would write and direct a new film adaption of The Mist for Warner Bros. Pictures. In March 2026, he signed an overall deal with Amazon MGM Studios for television. In July 2026, Games Workshop announced that Flanagan had been brought on by Amazon to work on an upcoming Warhammer 40,000 project.

Influences Flanagan's favorite films are All That Jazz, Lawrence of Arabia, Casablanca and Jaws, although he considers the films that influenced him the most to be The Haunting, The Changeling, The Shining and The Exorcist; The Haunting was notably based on the same novel as Flanagan's series The Haunting of Hill House, while he would direct Doctor Sleep, a direct sequel to The Shining, and The Exorcist: Martyrs, a sequel to The Exorcist.

Flanagan spent years studying various religions, later describing Midnight Mass as a passion project that was "deeply personal" and dealt intimately with his Catholic upbringing and his eventual atheism, as well as his sobriety.

A lifelong fan of Stephen King, who would go on to strongly praise Flanagan's work, Flanagan finds King "extraordinarily difficult to adapt": "His attention to character development, to humanity, and to narrative structure are some of his most defining traits, and those are very difficult to translate into a medium that tends to jettison those kinds of nuances in favor of shock, blood, and scares. Too many of his adaptations stray too far from what makes his work so special, and they suffer for it. But at the heart of his work is a conversation about the human condition, about flawed people in extraordinary situations, and about the darker corners of our nature." Paradoxically, the first episode of his series The Midnight Club (2022) set a new Guinness World Record for the most jump scares in a single episode of television with 21. However, Flanagan stated that this jump-scare sequence was in direct response to studio notes requesting more jump scares, and he designed this 21-scare scene so that the "jump scare(s) would be rendered meaningless."

In 2025, Flanagan was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a member.

Personal life In February 2016, Flanagan married actress and frequent collaborator Kate Siegel, with whom he has a son and a daughter. Flanagan was formerly in a relationship with actress Courtney Bell, who starred in his film Absentia, and with whom he has a son.

Filmography Feature films Year Title Director Writer Editor Producer 2011 Absentia 2013 Oculus 2016 Hush Before I Wake Ouija: Origin of Evil 2017 Gerald's Game 2019 Doctor Sleep 2024 The Life of Chuck 2026 2027

Feature-length student films Year Title Director Writer Editor Producer Composer 2000 Makebelieve 2001 Still Life 2003 Ghosts of Hamilton Street

Short films Year Title Director Writer Editor Producer Notes 2006 Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan 2024 Stowaway Segment for V/H/S/Beyond 2025 The Room Returns Also actorRole: Peter

Television Year Title Director Writer Editor Executiveproducer Creator 2018 The Haunting of Hill House 2020 The Haunting of Bly Manor 2021 Midnight Mass 2022 The Midnight Club 2023 The Fall of the House of Usher 2026

Editor only Year Title Notes 2005 Untold Stories of the E.R. Associate, documentary series 2007 Bone Detectives Documentary series 2008 Your Place or Mine? Reality series Super Swank Documentary series 2008–2009 Machines of Malice2009 Pinks: All Out Reality series Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles 2009–2010 Most Daring2010 Design School Hot in Cleveland Episode: "Behind the Hotness"

Frequent collaborators Flanagan is known for his recurring collaborations with certain actors. When asked about this tendency and the recurring collaborator section on his Wikipedia page, he described such collaboration (including having other directors on his shows) as being "something that's very necessary as our company has grown and as our shows have grown". Of career-long DP Michael Fimognari and 1st A.D. Morgan Beggs he said "I trust those people with my life".

The Exorcist (2027) Total roles Crystal Balint Dolly Scarborough Maggie Morella Usher 4 Annalise Basso Young Kaylie Russell Lina Zander Janice Halliday 3 Courtney Bell Tricia Riley Auctioneer Andrea Morgan 3 Matt Biedel Sturge Tim Pawluk William "Bill-T" Wilson Doctor Winston 5 Ruth Codd Anya Juno Usher Cara 3 Alex Essoe Wendy Torrance Charlotte Wingrave Mildred Gunning Poppy Corn Court Witness 5 Jamie Flanagan Jamie Lambert Tobin Capp Court Clerk Funeral Director Diesel Doug Group Leader 6 Zach Gilford Riley Flynn Mark Young Roderick Usher 3 Annabeth Gish Natalie Friedman Clara Dudley Dr. Sarah Gunning Eliza Usher 4 Justin Gordon Det. Lonergan Mark Dr. Tennant 3 Bruce Greenwood Gerald Burlingame Dr. John Dalton Roderick Usher 3 Carla Gugino Jessie Burlingame Olivia Crain Jamie Taylor The Storyteller Judge Verna Television Voiceover 6 Rahul Kohli Owen Sharma Sheriff Hassan Shabazz Vincent Beggs Leo Usher Bri Harold Allison 7 James Lafferty Michael Dumont Ryan Quale 3 Hamish Linklater Father Paul Hill American reporter 3 Robert Longstreet Horace Dudley Barry the Chunk Joe Collie Janitor William Longfellow 6 Carl Lumbly Dick Hallorann C. Auguste Dupin Sam Yarbrough 4 Violet McGraw Young Nell Crain Violet Hansen Lily 3 Katie Parker Callie Russel Phone Store Clerk Poppy Hill Silent Sarey Perdita Willoughby Aceso Annabel Lee 7 Molly C. Quinn Mrs. Grady Jenny Mrs. Krantz 3 Igby Rigney Warren Flynn Kevin Toby 3 Natalie Roers Jogger Katie Reporter 3 Sauriyan Sapkota Amesh Prospero "Perry" Usher Ram 3 Kate Siegel Marisol Chavez Madison Young Jenny Browning Sally Theodora Crain Viola Willoughby Erin Greene Camille L'Espanaye Miss Richards 11 Samantha Sloyan Sarah Greene Leigh Crain Bev Keane Shasta Tamerlane Usher Miss Rohrbacher Margaret White 8 Henry Thomas Father Tom Hogan Tom Young Hugh Crain The BartenderJack Torrance Henry Wingrave Ed Flynn Freedom Jack Frederick Usher 8 Jacob Tremblay Cody Morgan Bradley Trevor Charles "Chuck" Krantz 3 Michael Trucco John Stanley Wade Scarborough Frederick Rufus Griswold Dylan's Dad John Hargensen 6 Lulu Wilson Doris Zander Young Shirley Crain Young Madeline Usher 3

Awards and nominations +AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryFilmResultRef. Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival September 18, 2011 Best Feature (Jury Award) Absentia Shriekfest October 2, 2011 Best Horror Feature Film Writers Guild of America Awards February 17, 2019 New Series The Haunting of Hill House Fangoria Chainsaw Awards February 25, 2019 Best Series Saturn AwardsOctober 26, 2021Best DirectorDoctor Sleep Best Writing Best Editing Bram Stoker Award May 14, 2022 Superior Achievement in a Screenplay Midnight Mass Writers Guild of America Awards March 20, 2022 Original Long Form Midnight Mass Fargo Film FestivalMarch 25, 2023Ted M. Larson Award Fantasia International Film Festival September 6, 2024 Cheval Noir Award The Life of Chuck