Mike Flanagan has taken on acclaimed adaptations including Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep and Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House. His latest King project, Carrie, has received strong reviews and is performing prominently on Prime Video. His next major challenge could be even larger: bringing Warhammer 40,000 to live-action television.
Flanagan is developing the Amazon series with Henry Cavill, who is attached as both star and executive producer. Speaking on The Process Unlocked podcast, Flanagan compared the project to climbing his “adaptation Everest”.
Why Warhammer 40,000 is such a difficult adaptation
The central problem is not a shortage of material. The Warhammer 40,000 setting has decades of history behind it, hundreds of novels and a fictional timeline stretching across thousands of years. Its huge cast, numerous factions and interconnected stories make choosing an effective starting point a formidable task.
“These are novel lengths. These are not small. But there are so many characters. It takes place over so many thousands of years. There’s so much there,” Flanagan said. “The challenge is how do you get in? That’s really a brutally difficult adaptation, but it’s been so fun for it.”
What is known about the Warhammer 40,000 TV series?
Games Workshop confirmed in a July financial report that the project’s initial outlines had been completed, with Flanagan expected to progress to scriptwriting. The company has also warned that its screen adaptations will take years to reach audiences.
There is currently no announced release date and no specific storyline has been revealed for the live-action series. Cavill remains attached to star and executive produce, while his long-standing enthusiasm for the tabletop universe gives the project a prominent fan connection.
The setting presents an especially broad canvas. Created by Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000 depicts a violent far-future era in which humanity battles alien civilisations, demonic forces and seemingly unending war. Its material spans tabletop gaming, novels, video games and other media.
Flanagan’s experience with expansive fictional worlds
Flanagan is also developing a television adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, another saga spread across several novels and linked to a wider fictional universe. However, he says King provides a clearer route into that world.
He cited the opening of The Gunslinger, where a gunslinger pursues a man in black across a desert. That straightforward premise allows the wider mythology to unfold gradually.
“Seventy percent of my job is done for me by Steve,” Flanagan said of adapting King. “Warhammer is not like that.”
Flanagan’s background in horror may suit a universe filled with grotesque creatures, religious fanaticism and cosmic terror. His other announced or developing projects include DC Studios’ Clayface and a new Exorcist film, while The Dark Tower remains in development.
Finding an entry point for new and longtime fans
The major creative question is how to condense an enormous mythology into a series that welcomes newcomers without overlooking the expectations of established fans. Flanagan’s comments suggest that identifying the right doorway into the setting will be one of the production’s hardest decisions.
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