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Mark Hamill, Carla Gugino & more board Mike Flanagan's 'modern remix of' Edgar Allan Poe

With Stephen King & Shirley Jackson under his belt, Flanagan is now tackling one of the most revered names in horror.

By Josh Weiss Dec 9, 2021, 4:26 PM ET

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images and Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images

Quoth the casting director: "Nevermore!" Mike Flanagan confirmed via Twitter Thursday that Star Wars veteran and voiceover demigod Mark Hamill will appear in his upcoming miniseries adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" for Netflix.

Hamill is just one part of a truly staggering ensemble that now includes Frank Langella (Robot & Frank), Mary McDonnell (The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf), and a pair of previous Flanagan collaborators: Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House) and Carly Lumbly (Doctor Sleep). Just don't expect a straight adaptation of the 1839 short horror story of the same name.

"This miniseries is a modern remix of some of the most iconic works of Edgar Allan Poe," Flanagan teased. "To tell this epic tale of greed, horror, and tragedy, we have assembled the largest ensemble cast in the history of Intrepid Pictures."

Langella is locked in to play Roderick Usher, "the towering patriarch of the Usher dynasty," per Flanagan. McDonnell, meanwhile, will step into the role of Madeline Usher, "Roderick's sister and the hidden hand of the Usher dynasty." Lumbly should have a grand old time sleuthing it up as C. Auguste Dupin (a character that essentially birthed modern detective stories as we know them today).

Curiously, Flanagan did not provide specific details for the characters set to be portrayed by Hamill or Gugino. However, he did hint that Hamill is "playing a character surprisingly at home in the shadows."

We're just a few weeks away from principal photography on THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, @intrepid's latest miniseries for @netflix. Today, Executive Producer Trevor Macy and I are elated to unveil the first wave of our cast.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) December 9, 2021

We have MANY more names to share, and will unveil the next wave tomorrow, right here at 10am PST. Some familiar faces, some new ones, all incredible performers coming together to bring the world of Poe to life as itâs never been seen before. Cannot wait to tell you more!
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) December 9, 2021

Flanagan, who is executive producing the television project alongside Intrepid Pictures co-founder Trevor Macy, promised that more cast members will be announced tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 10) at 1 p.m. ET.

Production for the miniseries is scheduled to kick off in several weeks. Flanagan wrote the scripts and will direct four out of the eight episodes, according to TVLine. The remaining four are being handled by Michael Fimognari, cinematographer on Gerald's Game, Hill House, Doctor Sleep, and Midnight Mass.

Netflix has yet to set a release date.