Mike Flanagan's unrealized projects

In March 2012, after the release of Flanagan's first film Absentia (2011), he was set to write and direct Scare Dares, a low-budget paranormal horror film starring Courtney Bell, Katie Parker, Justin Gordon and Morgan Peter Brown, who all previously appeared in Absentia.^[1] Produced by Fallback Plan Productions, the film would have centered on a smartphone app that leads users to known areas of paranormal phenomena in central California. Things go wrong when a group of estranged friends kick off a reunion weekend by visiting ghostly hotspots and engaging in occult dares.^[2] The film was set to be released in 2013, before being cancelled for undisclosed reasons.^[3]

In September 2014, Sony Pictures revealed plans to remake I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), with Flanagan and Jeff Howard writing the script.^[4] The film was a high priority and was initially set for release in 2016, and required an estimated budget of $15–20 million.^[5] Flanagan confirmed that his new iteration of the franchise would be a reboot and not include elements of the 1973 novel nor of the 1997 feature film.^[6] The project was ultimately never made and was subsequently canceled.^[7]

On December 7, 2016, Flanagan signed on to write and direct Inherit the Earth.^[8] On August 21, 2018, Kornél Mundruczó replaced Flanagan as director with Mundruczó's wife Kata Wéber writing a new script.^[9]

By August 14, 2019, Amblin Entertainment hired Flanagan and Jeff Howard to co-write an "interactive haunted house film", with Alexandre Aja directing.^[10]

In October 2019, prior to the release of Doctor Sleep, Warner Bros. had enough confidence in the film that they hired Flanagan to script a prequel with the working title Hallorann, focusing on the character of Dick Hallorann. Following the disappointing box-office performance of Doctor Sleep, the project was scrapped.^[11] Flanagan also confirmed that he was interested in directing a sequel focused on Abra Stone, and that he had asked King, who was open to the idea.^[12]

On May 8, 2020, Deadline Hollywood confirmed that Flanagan would write and direct a film adaptation of Revival in partnership with Intrepid Pictures.^[13] That July, Flanagan confirmed that he had completed the first draft of the screenplay, which was met with Stephen King's approval. However, he expressed doubt as to the likelihood of Warner Bros. greenlighting the project.^[14] On December 23, 2020, Flanagan confirmed that the adaptation was no longer in development, saying in conversation with Josh Boone on the podcast The Company of the Mad, "I stepped on the exact same landmine, and ended up in the exact same place... We should get together some day and share boards, and drafts, and scars. I kind of hit the same wall with it where it was just so expensive. Man, did I love it, though."^[15][16]

In January 2021, Flanagan expressed interest in writing and directing a standalone "horror/thriller/tragedy" film centered on Clayface.^[17][18] By March 2023, Flanagan met with DC Films producer Jon Berg about making a "horror-leaning" iteration of the character, but it "kind of went nowhere",^[19][18] saying that DC did not "bite on" his idea but that he was ready to commit to the project "anytime".^[20] In March 2023, Flanagan and his Intrepid Pictures partner Trevor Macy met with James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-CEOs of DC Studios, regarding a Clayface film.^[18] Flanagan said the report of him pitching a Clayface film by then was "entirely speculative",^[21] further stating in late May that such a film was not in development and that he was participating in the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike that began earlier that month.^[22]

After the strike ended, Flanagan wrote the film's screenplay, which got the project greenlit by DC Studios in December 2024, however, he could not recommit to directing the film, due to scheduling conflicts with The Exorcist (2027) and a Carrie miniseries.^[23][24] By February 21, 2025, James Watkins was chosen to direct the film.^[25] In March 2025, it was reported that Hossein Amini had performed a significant rewrite on Flanagan's script.^[26][27] In May 2025, Flanagan confirmed that he 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.^[28] By June 2025, Amini had completed multiple drafts,^[29] and Gunn said the script was entirely Flanagan's story with minor changes being made to the shooting script before it was finalized.^[30] In November 2025, Flanagan said he enjoyed developing the film with Matt Reeves, and then with Gunn and Safran, and this was the first time in his career where he had to leave a project he was passionate about due to scheduling concerns.^[31]

In April 2021, Flanagan was announced to be developing a film for Universal Pictures based on the Christopher Pike novel The Season of Passage.^[32]

In July 2021, Flanagan announced he was writing a streaming series based on the comic book Something Is Killing the Children for Boom! Studios and Netflix.^[33] By October 2022, he was no longer involved in the series.^[34] In February 2023, it was announced that Dark and 1899 creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese had been hired to develop the adaptation after Flanagan had departed, owing to creative differences.^[35]

In September 2021, Flanagan revealed that prior to writing and directing the Netflix miniseries, he originally wrote Midnight Mass as a novel and feature film screenplay, before discarding both.^[36] The unfinished novel was featured in Flanagan's earlier films Hush (2016) and Gerald's Game (2017), as a means of "keeping the idea alive over the years".^[36]

In December 2022, following the cancelation of The Midnight Club, Flanagan revealed what was planned for season 2 on his Tumblr, including the ultimate fates of the various characters and answers to the show's lingering mysteries.^[37][38] The season would have adapted the Remember Me books by Christopher Pike.^[37]

In December 2022, Flanagan announced that he had acquired the rights to adapt The Dark Tower books for a streaming series on Amazon Prime Video and had plans for a multi-season release, alongside Trevor Macy's Intrepid Pictures.^[39] In June 2023, Flanagan said he was optimistic about Amazon approving the series after the 2023 writer's strike.^[40] By August 2023, development on the series was suspended due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.^[41]

In November 2023, Flanagan confirmed that had a third installment of his The Haunting horror anthology series been commissioned, the season would have adapted Richard Matheson's Hell House; however, the rights were not available.^[42]