A naive college-aged Flanagan was pressured by Christopher Pike’s publishers to destroy his early version.
Mike Flanagan’s first attempt at bringingThe Midnight Clubto the screen didn’t go so well.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid,” Flanagan said.
Chris Sumpter on ‘The Midnight Club’.Eike Schroter/Netflix
But I started to make a run at write a script forThe Midnight Clubwhen I was in college.
And I wrote a whole script.
It was going to be a feature film.
Can I have your permission?'"
Their response was not ideal.
“They said, ‘Cease and desist, and destroy all copies of the script.
You didn’t have permission to adapt,'” Flanagan recalled.
“So I very sheepishly destroyed them all.”
He didn’t even keep one copy.
“I was afraid of being sued.”
Each of their stories is a mini adaptation of another Pike book.
“It had to be a really good role,” she said.
It had to be that good of a role, and I feel like it was.
I love my part so much."
Watch the full interview in above.The Midnight Clubdebuts Friday on Netflix.
