'Carrie' remake: New teaser trailer debuts at New York Comic-Con

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Published on October 13, 2012 12:00PM EDT

The Project: Carrie, the new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel, coming in 2013.

The Panel: Stars Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore, director Kimberly Peirce, producer Kevin Misher. Moderated by Entertainment Weekly‘s very own Dalton Ross.

Footage Screened: The NYCC crowd got an exclusive first look at Carrie‘s teaser trailer, which begins with a helicopter shot showing the school gym on fire, but then shows a trail of destruction leading throughout Carrie‘s small town…ending with a close-up on a blood-covered Moretz. The teaser features a cacophony of voices talking about Carrie — including the memorable line “She wasn’t some monster. She was just a girl.” — implying, perhaps, that the remake would adhere close to the structure of King’s original novel, which was written in a pseudo-epistolary style. (Brian De Palma’s original Carrie film in the late ’70s jettisoned that structure in favor of a more straightforward linear narrative.)

Snap Judgment: The teaser looked positively apocalyptic, and the image of a completely unhinged Moretz indicated that the remake will have plenty of propulsive energy. If nothing else, this looks worlds better than The Rage: Carrie 2.

The Big Revelations: Everyone on the panel made a point of praising the original Carrie film — Peirce is a friend of De Palma — but noted that part of the intention of making Carrie again was to faithfully reproduce certain elements of King’s novel left out of the original. That includes more destruction: hence the vision of the ruined town. However, the panel did hint at at least one major change in the story: Peirce implied that contemporary social media would play a key role in mean girl Sue Snell’s campaign of terror against Carrie.

Most Prepared Panelist: Moore, who responded to a question from an audience member about the portrayal of bullying in Carrie by asking, “Have any of you read Stephen King’s book On Writing?” She proceeded to regale the crowd with an in-depth explanation of King’s original inspiration for Carrie. (In an intriguing twist, the audience member in question turned out to be a teacher at the school attended by Moore’s child.)

Most Popular Panelist: Moretz, who is clearly well on her way to becoming a Comic-Con demi-goddess, at least to judge by the shout-outs she received her role as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass.

Amount of Blood Used in the making of Carrie: 1000 gallons, according to an extremely rough on-the-spot estimate by Peirce.

Follow Darren on Twitter: @DarrenFranich