Mike Flanagan Wants to Make ‘Jaws’ and a “Really Scary” ‘Jurassic’ Movie

Mike Flanagan has a couple of dream projects that I would absolutely love to see happen.

During a Reddit AMA hosted through Prime Video to promote Carrie, the filmmaker was asked which other franchise he’d like to tackle after The Exorcist. His answer? Jaws and Jurassic, with a particular interest in making the dinosaurs scary as fuck.

“It’s so funny to me because I spent a lot of my career thinking I wouldn’t do franchises or sequels, and – whoops – but I really love getting to play in a world I know and respect and adore, and put my own spin on it,” Flanagan wrote.

“Honestly, I wish to hell I could make a Jaws movie. Another example where no one will EVER get close to the original, but there is a ton of room for improvement on the sequels.”

That last part is important. He’s talking about finding his own way into this world, with an understanding that nobody is going to top Steven Spielberg’s original.

I raise my hand. I approve.

Jaws helped define the summer blockbuster, but what makes it so good goes well beyond the shark. It’s a character piece. You remember the people, their relationships, and the dynamics of a town that doesn’t want to acknowledge what’s happening because its livelihood depends on keeping the beaches open.

That’s exactly why Flanagan feels like such a good fit. He knows how to build a community, develop interesting characters, and find the themes that tie their stories together. Look at Midnight Mass. Give him a coastal town and a threat in the water, and I would be very interested in spending time with those people before the shark even shows up.

The pandemic also made the human behavior in Jaws feel painfully timely to me: the arguments about public safety, the financial pressure to stay open, and the refusal to take a threat seriously until it’s impossible to ignore. There’s plenty for a contemporary story to explore without trying to remake the first movie.