Mike Flanagan to helm adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist

Mike Flanagan is to direct an adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Mist.

The 47-year-old filmmaker will helm and write the screenplay for his latest take on the legendary horror author's work as he brings the 1980 novella to the big screen.

In The Mist, a small town in Maine is consumed by a thick mysterious fog from which creatures emerge and start attacking the townsfolk – leading a group of survivors to take shelter in a local grocery store.

Typically for King's fiction, the anarchy brings out the best in some but the worst in others, sparking a mob mentality and empowering unhinged extremists who become as dangerous as the horrors outside.

In addition to directing and writing the flick, Flanagan will produce for his Red Room Pictures company alongside Tyler Thompson and Spyglass' Gary Barber and Chris Stone.

Alexandra Magistro also serves as an executive producer for Red Room.

The Mist originated in King's short story collection Skeleton Crew and was previously turned into a 2007 film starring Thomas Jane and a 2017 TV series.

It is the latest King story to be adapted for the big screen by Flanagan, who has directed takes on Gerald's Game, The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep and The Life of Chuck.

The director is also working on a TV series that adapts King's first published novel Carrie for Prime Video.

Flanagan previously explained how he wouldn't have made Doctor Sleep without the author's blessing.

The director explained his vision for the 2019 sequel to King as he knew the writer had a number of criticisms about Stanley Kubrick's classic 1980 movie that starred Jack Nicholson as the tormented Jack Torrance.

Flanagan told Entertainment Tonight: "In the beginning, when we were developing the script, I said, 'Well, this is what I think this is what I would do: There's only one way to make this movie and that's to acknowledge the cinematic impact of Kubrick's film. That's the language that everyone knows when they think of the Overlook and the Torrances. This could be a real chance to celebrate that.'

"But it could be a real opportunity to take those two visions, which still to this day, is something that [King] has very strong feelings about, and try to bring them back together. To try to reconcile them, even if only a little...and that, as a fan, was an irresistible opportunity.

"After he heard me out and heard how I would approach it and why I wanted to do it that way, he gave his blessing to do that before I went to write the script.

"And, if he hadn't given his blessing, I wouldn't have made the film."