“Carrie” is back.
The MGM/Screen Gems “reimagining” of Stephen King’s first novel has started production in Toronto (subbing for Maine), with Chloe Grace Moretz in the lead.
In “Carrie,” a tormented teenager is pushed too far, causing her spooky telekinetic powers to manifest themselves at school. Director Kimberly Peirce has dealt with bullied outsiders before, in 1999’s acclaimed “Boys Don’t Cry.” She also directed the 2008 Iraq war-themed drama “Stop-Loss” with Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
With teen bullying a hot topic in the media right now, “Carrie” should strike a nerve, especially with multiple Oscar nominee Julianne Moore playing (overplaying?) the teen girl’s overbearing mother. Judy Greer (“The Descendants”) also stars, while Portia Doubleday (“Youth in Revolt”), Gabriella Wilde (“The Three Musketeers”) and newcomer Ansel Elgort play the mean teens.
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (“Big Love”) adapted the novel.
“Carrie” was the basis for Brian DePalma’s hit 1976 film, which starred Sissy Spacek as Carrie and Piper Laurie as her mother. There was a little-seen sequel in 1999 called “The Rage: Carrie 2,” starring Emily Bergl as a high school student who suffers a fate similar to Carrie’s.
Probably best known for playing Hit-Girl in 2010’s “Kick-Ass,” Moretz was recently seen in Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows” and Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo.”