Published Oct 15, 2026, 8:05 AM EDT
Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW.
Mike Flanagan might be a master at Stephen King adaptations, but his desire to revive two Steven Spielberg classics is exactly what both franchises need. Mike Flanagan's movie and TV show CV contains an overwhelming amount of horror gems. His terrifying and heartbreaking Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass might be the best thing he's ever made - and this is a filmmaker who also has The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep and Gerald's Game on his filmography.
With his 2026 Carrie miniseries having debuted on Prime, attention has turned once again to his Stephen King adaptations. More than any other filmmaker (even Frank "The Shawshank Redemption" Darabont), Flanagan just gets King's tone. He understands the best King stories are about his characters, and that's what drives the horror, not the other way around.
With the likes of Carrie, Doctor Sleep and the upcoming The Exorcist: Martyrs, Flanagan has proven very reliable with reinventing classic horror properties. That's what makes a recent Reddit AMA with Flanagan so intriguing, where he stated a desire to take a crack at two Steven Spielberg franchises: Jurassic Park and Jaws.
Mike Flanagan's Jurassic Park Idea Is What The Franchise Needs
Universal's bank balance shows there is a healthy appetite for Jurassic Park movies, but sadly, none of them have lived up to the original. Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster is masterful, blending great characters with the director's deft handling of visual storytelling and setpieces. Some of the sequels have had standout moments, but the blend of heart, humor and scares present in the first Jurassic Park has never been topped.
Flanagan politely threw his hat in the Jurassic ring recently, stating in his AMA a desire to helm a Jurassic Park sequel and that "A true dinosaur horror film would be a blast.” While other follow-ups like Fallen Kingdom have attempted to inject some horror and suspense back into the property, they were more focused on exciting chases and action sequences instead.
Mike Flanagan is currently developing new takes on Stephen King's The Mist and The Dark Tower.
Although not technically classified as a pure horror experience, Spielberg's Jurassic Park has some dread-inducing suspense and scares. The introduction of the T-rex or the kitchen chase with the velociraptors are scarier in isolation than most horror movies ever get, and Flanagan himself understands that. He could help restore the sense of awe and terror of the first entry, while making audiences invest in the characters.
Unfortunately, its doubtful Flanagan will be handed the Jurassic Park/World keys in the near future. A new entry, that will likely bring back Scarlett Johansson from 2025's Rebirth, is in development, with Fallen Kingdom helmer J.A. Bayona eyed to return. That said, Bayona's involvement has not been officially confirmed, while Flanagan has just worked with Johansson on The Exorcist. Who knows, maybe he'll get his Jurassic Park dream after all.
Rebooting Jaws Isn't Easy, But Mike Flanagan Could Do It
Much trickier is Flanagan's desire to direct a new Jaws movie. There hasn't been a new outing since 1987's The Revenge, with this fourth outing being considered one of the worst sequels ever produced. Spielberg is said to have a distaste for the Jaws follow-ups that were made, and has reportedly refused to allow the original to be packaged in home media releases with the sequels.
Another unconfirmed rumor suggests Spielberg has requested that no further Jaws sequels be produced. Maybe Flanagan could be the one to talk him around, with the director telling his fans that Jaws is "Another example where no one will EVER get close to the original, but there is a ton of room for improvement on the sequels."
While Jaws 2 has a decent reputation and is, at the very least, an entertaining follow-up, it doesn't come close to the perfect engine of terror that is Spielberg's 1975 film. Again, Mike Flanagan could bring back both the horror and humanity to the series. Midnight Mass is a show that evokes a similar feeling of a small coastal community like Amity Island, which is also beset by a creature that feeds on residents.
Like the best of Flanagan's output, it's also a heartfelt drama first with expert lashings of gore and shocks. It would be fascinating to see Flanagan tackle a pure aquatic horror movie, which his potential Jaws would be. The property is something that's obviously near and dear to Spielberg, but if anyone could make a worthy legacy sequel to it, it would be Mike Flanagan.
Source: Mike Flanagan Reddit AMA
-
Birthdate May 20, 1978
Birthplace Salem, Massachusetts, United States
Height 6 feet 0 inches
Notable Projects Hush, Doctor Sleep, Gerald's Game
Professions Filmmaker, Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Editor
Discover the latest news and filmography for Mike Flanagan, known for Doctor Sleep and The Haunting of Hill House.
-
-
Movie(s) Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, Jurassic World, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic World Dominion, Jurassic World Rebirth
TV Show(s) Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory
Video Game(s) Jurassic Park (1993), Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (2003), Jurassic Park: The Game, Jurassic World: The Game (2015), LEGO Jurassic World, Jurassic World Evolution, Jurassic World Evolution 2
First Film Jurassic Park
First TV Show Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous
Genres Sci-Fi, Action
The Jurassic Park franchise is an action-adventure sci-fi series that began with Michael Crichton's original novel. The series explores the dramatic repercussions of resurrecting dinosaurs through advanced genetic science. Set primarily in a disastrous theme park, Jurassic Park explores the profound ethical dilemmas about tinkering with the DNA of long ago extinct creatures and the manipulation of the natural world through science.
English (US) ·