Chloe Moretz, Julianne Moore and Kimberly Peirce Talk 2013's Carrie Adaptation

There are a few adaptations coming up in the near future that have got me more than a little excited recently. I was excited about the film musical adaptation of Les Misérables the second I discovered Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway were going to be in it. I scoffed when I heard David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas was being adapted. It seemed impossible! Then my lovely friend Hillary saw the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and sung its praises so highly I finally started to believe it might actually be more than a little bit brilliant. None have got me quite as excited though as the short trailer for Carrie - based on the fantastically sinister book by Stephen King and starring Chloe Moretz.

At the recent New York Comic Con, stars Moretz and Julianne Moore joined director Kimberly Peirce to discuss this new adaptation - which looks to be closer to the original source text than the 1970s Brian De Palma, thanks to the teaser trailer which swept over a burning town and had the voiceovers of the town's inhabitants.

Peirce said that she adored De Palma's adaptation but clarified: "I took a lot from reading Stephen King's fantastic novel - Carrie's plight, Carrie's mother, and thinking 'My god, this is a fantastic story.' That was always what I went back to." The cast were behind her on this as, Peirce said, they all loved the book.

When discussing the on-screen relationship between mother Margaret (Moore) and daughter Carrie (Moretz), Moore stated that "we were able to push it pretty far" as they felt so comfortable together off screen. What the pair will have made of the rather nasty scenes of abuse and punishment remains to be seen but it certainly seems to have the potential for the same level of darkness found in King's novel.

The panel debate seemed to suggest that the two key elements of the story are going to take centre stage for this film - that of the mother/daughter relationship and Carrie's bullying. Moore said she felt King was ahead of his time for addressing the bullying issue, adding that "one of the great things about Stephen King and this story is [that it] allows us to participate [in] many different ways." Peirce also said added: "I certainly think in some of the scenes there's an awareness of the teacher and the school...There's also a subplot about what one of the characters does in social media."

Those elements aside though, let's not forget that Carrie is - at it's heart - a horror of epic proportions. Those who know and love the story of Carrie White - in either book or film form - will understand why it was entertaining that director Peirce attempted to figure out a rough idea of just how much fake blood had been used during the shoot. Her final answer?  "1000 gallons of fake blood!"

Roll on 2013!

Source: Indiewire