A new image surfacing today as part of the viral marketing campaign for the Carrie remake, seeks to heighten interest in the film with new footage set to debut at this week’s New York Comic Con festival. The image which appeared today on the Facebook page for Kimberly Peirce’s Carrie remake, along with two posted last week, is a solemn poem allegedly penned by Carrie herself:
“Creative writing assignment: untitled poem, Carrie White”
All three images in total are accompanied by mysterious captions aiming the viewer’s focus toward particular details. Since it was announced that a remake of the Brian De Palma 1976 classic would be coming to theatres, Peirce has made it clear her intentions are to remain loyal to the source material of Stephen King’s 1974 novel. These faux clippings are keeping in line with that promise, as the novel comprises a collection of press clippings, interviews and excerpts, one of which is the above poem.
The first image posted of Carrie’s birth certificate arrived with the caption:
“17 years ago today Carrie White’s mother, Margaret White, gave birth to her daughter under circumstances which can only be termed bizarre.”
The absence of names for her father, the hospital and the physician could point in the direction of a home birth, but what could be so bizarre about that? For those who have read the novel or seen the original, to consider the zealot Margaret White giving birth you could entertain the possibility of her demanding her newborn to scrub the toilet, peel the carrots or go door-to-door. That could be termed bizarre.
And posted this past Saturday was the following caption and image:
“This article was found in the Chamberlain archives. It was printed over a decade ago. That would have made Carrie at least five years old. Is it possible that telepathic powers of that magnitude can develop at such a young age?”
Yet another nod to the novel and missed by many in the original film. (Beware SPOILERS ahead!) During the film’s climax, as Carrie and her mother have accepted their fate via the worst knife throwing contest in the history of the world and a collapsing closet, large rocks akin to hail stones pummel the White household. Their appearance is brief, which is why they’re easy to miss.
The use of press snippets to build up fan expectations is effective, particularly for this writer who carries a torch for the novel and original. With a solid cast including Chloe Grace Moretz as Carrie and Julianne Moore as Margaret White, this remake has got the thespy gravitas to match its predecessor. This week’s unveiling at Comic Con could see a simultaneous online release of the same footage, but nothing has been confirmed.
Carrie hits theaters on March 13th, 2013.
What do you make of these latest images for the Carrie remake? Is this kind of viral marketing convincing? Have your say in the comments below.