Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, a playwright who was recently brought onto the troubled Broadway production Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, will pen the new script based on King’s first published work. It was previously turned into a classic 1976 film by Brian De Palma that starred Sissy Spacek as a shy and bullied teenager who develops psychic powers and uses them to get revenge on her tormenters. Spacek and co-star Piper Laurie both got Oscar nominations for the film.
Aguirre-Sacasa is not just a playwright, however. He also writes comics for Marvel including their graphic representation of Stephen King’s The Stand, so he’s certainly familiar with King’s work. There’s more after the break.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported this news which, we guess, makes as much sense as remaking any of the several dozen other classic Seventies and Eighties horror movies that have been remade in the past several years. Perhaps even more so because they’ve hired a writer who not only knows King’s voice but is new to movies. Maybe he can bring something fresh and different to the material and the medium.
Aquirre-Sacasa, besides writing comics and plays, has only ever before dabbled in television, as he worked on several seasons of HBO’s Big Love. This will be his first screenplay.
One has to wonder if the decision to remake Carrie, a big, female-friendly horror film, now is a reaction to the fact that Bridesmaids, a big, female-friendly gross-out comedy was just declared a box office hit. Both are genres girls aren’t usually targeted in.
Do you think Carrie is ripe for a remake? Or do you hold the original close to your