(Video link) Right before New York Comic Con’s Evil Dead panel (which I could not resist writing about first, because it’s what I like to call “my jam”) was the panel for the remake of Carrie, directed by Kimberly Peirce and starring Julianne Moore and Chloë Grace Moretz, all of whom were in attendance along with producer Kevin Bishop. I’d have to say that the audience was a little more resigned to a remake of Carrie than they were to Evil Dead (maybe because Carrie has been remade a couple of times already), but it didn’t make the discussion any less entertaining.
While this is obviously the same story of Carrie White and the people who drove her to mass destruction, including her fanatical tyrant mother, this intends to be a fresh take on an old tale. For instance, there will be attention paid to cyberbullying, but it won’t be the focus. The focus will be the demented, horrific mother-daughter relationship — and maybe the mass amounts of blood. Peirce, in response to an audience question, estimated about 1,000 gallons of fake blood were used in her Carrie. Moretz, who was covered in it for days at a time, said that it “became something else,” even part of the character she was playing. (Bishop was sure to let us know that “no pigs were harmed in the making of this movie.”)
Peirce also made a point of mentioning that she referred to Stephen King’s novel and not Brian De Palma’s 1976 movie for source material; the latter was very supportive of the remake, but the former is notoriously hands-off when it comes to adaptations of his work.
Sony Pictures was kind enough to release the NYCC teaser yesterday, so we can see it in all of its bloody, flammable glory.
Another fun takeaway from the Carrie panel — the White family phone number. Moretz says that if we call the number, 207-404-2604, you will hear from a member of the White family.
So, who else is going to re-read the book?