Peacock is looking to get in on the small-town horror genre with the officialTeacuptrailer. The show, created byYellowstonealum Ian McCulloch, is loosely inspired by Robert McCammon’s 1988 novelStinger, exploring a group of people in rural Georgia who find themselves trapped when a mysterious threat pushes them into a state of paranoia as they try to determine how to survive.The Handmaid’s Tale’s Yvonne StrahovskiandGrey’s Anatomy’s Scott Speedman lead the James Wan-produced show alongside Chaske Spencer, Kathy Baker, Boris McGiver, Caleb Dolden, Émilie Bierre and Luciano Leroux.
With just a few weeks remaining until its premiere,Peacockhas released the officialTeacuptrailer. The video opens by introducing some of the residents of the small town, including Strahovski’s Maggie and her family, whose son Arlo wanders into the woods to follow a stray goat from their farm, only to be visited by a mysterious entity. The trailer then shifts to a far more ominous tone as a mysterious figure in a gas mask paints a circle around the community’s outskirts and warns not to trust anyone, withArlo telling his mom that the “man in my head” says they’re trapped.
The trailer continues to show a variety of ominous imagery of what the group are encountering in their area, including dead animals on top of a blackened circle in the middle of the forest, lights in the farm flashing on-and-off, a character with a mysterious finger twitch, andArlo’s warning that “it’s coming, and it kills everything in its way”. The footage then ends with a trio of characters watching in shock as a woman falls over the painted line and is torn apart by a figure off-screen, with Speedman’s James also pulled into an empty house’s basement while investigating it. Check out the trailer below:
In addition to the trailer, both McCulloch and Wan wrote full letters sharing insight into their approach to adaptingStingerto the screen inTeacup.The former admits to being reluctant when Wan’s Atomic Monster approached himto develop the adaptation, as he’s “not a spectacle writer” and didn’t initially connect to the idea until he read the novel:
When Atomic Monster first approached me about creating a series adaptation of Robert McCammon’s Stinger — a no-holds-barred, gargantuan spectacle of a novel along the lines of The Stand, Independence Day and Mars Attacks — to be honest, I didn’t want to throw my hat in the ring. I’m not a spectacle writer. I’m a less-is-more writer. I gravitate more toward what are known as keyhole epics. Large stories told through small lenses. Think Signs, The Thing, A Quiet Place. But here’s the thing. I read Stinger and it stayed with me. Wouldn’t leave me alone. I just couldn’t stop thinking about its razor-sharp premise, how it unfolds over the course of a single harrowing day, and about the relatable and real family McCammon puts center stage. That’s when the flash bang-light bulb idea hit…
McCulloch goes on to explain that hecame up with the idea to adaptStinger"in a way that honors the book and stays true to the kinds of stories I like to tell". In doing so, he sought to take away multiple elements of the novel, including “the large ensemble” and “the giant set pieces”, instead feeling that the most effective elements were those of the characters and the tension of isolation:
What if I adapted Stinger in a way that honors the book and stays true to the kinds of stories I like to tell? Keep the conceit. Keep Stinger’s most effective elements. Take away the large ensemble. Take away the giant set pieces. Even take away the book’s crowded town setting. The adaptation would be like an acoustic guitar version of, say, a Radiohead song. It won’t have the production value, electronic instruments, loops, or synthesized bells and whistles, but it will still have the melody, the structure, the lyrics, the real magic at the core, all the stuff that makes a great song a great song. All of which is to say I could suddenly see exactly what to do and how to do it. Two weeks later, Atomic Monster had the script for the first episode. Soon after that, Peacock bought it. Not so long after that, both my creative and career dreams actually started coming true as more scripts were written, hires made, actors cast, sets built, and production began…
McCulloch would conclude his letter with the recollection of how the show “changed and evolved” during production,including how the title of the show changed, though stated that “the reasons for this are too spoilery”. He ultimately expressed his hope that fans of the novel will be as entertained as general audiences as the show sets itself apart as “a puzzle-box mystery, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a can’t-but-must-look horror story, a family drama” and “a science fiction epic”:
Of course, during production, the series changed and evolved. Just as it should. Even the title’s different. Stinger is now Teacup. The reasons for this are too spoilery to share, but watch the first few episodes and all will be revealed. Point being, the series is now very much its own thing: a puzzle-box mystery, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a can’t-but-must-look horror story, a family drama, a science fiction epic — of the keyhole variety, of course. But as singular, strange, and surprising as I hope Teacup is, all you need to do is peel away the layers, characters, situations, and mythology and look behind the thrills, chills, hairpin turns and make-you gasp reveals. Do all that, and you’ll see, at its heart, Teacup is still very much standing on the shoulders of Stinger. Just as it should.
Wan’s letter opens with the recollection of how he and “the entire team at Atomic Monster felt a spark” upon reading McCammon’s source novel, believing that"the story had all the ingredients for a captivating series" and praising McCulloch’s approach, as it “defies easy labels”:
After reading Robert McCammon’s book Stinger, the entire team at Atomic Monster felt a spark. The story had all the ingredients for a captivating series and Ian McCulloch had a vision to bring it to life in a fresh way that was both startling and darkly atmospheric, but filled with a rich sense of humanity — often lacking in edgy narratives. Add in our incredibly talented cast led by Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman and Chaske Spencer and fans are in for a true edge-of-your-seat experience. Teacup defies easy labels. It’s a genre-bending blend of horror, mystery, and drama, with layers that unfold like a captivating puzzle. It goes beyond chills and thrills and holds up a mirror to humanity, exploring the darkness that resides within us all. We hope you enjoy this wild ride as much as we’ve loved creating it!
What The Teacup Trailer Says About The Horror Show
McCulloch Is Taking A Very Loose Approach To The Source Material
As evidenced by both the trailer and McCulloch’s letter, it seems clear thatTeacupis taking a very loose approach to adapting McCammon’s source novel, moving away from the gang wars and larger town setting of the book for a smaller story. That being said, the promise of a “puzzle-box mystery” is very much on display in the trailer, including keeping whatever is actually the threat of the show off-screen and building on this with teases of a figure that will kill the main cast of characters if they get in their way.
McCulloch’s approach toTeacupmay actually work out in its favor should he have a multi-season plan for the project
While the concept of a puzzle-box mystery does initially spark memories ofLost, theTeacuptrailer actually proves reminiscent of more recent well-received horror shows,namely MGM+‘sFromand Fox’sWayward Pines. The Harold Perrineau-led show centers on a town in Middle America, in which its residents are trapped by nocturnal creatures residing in the surrounding woods, while the M. Night Shyamalan-produced title centered on the residents of the titular town seemingly kept prisoner there by an electric fence, when the reality is there are a number of creatures in the surrounding woods and that the town is older than it appears.
From: What Are The Monsters & What Do They Want?
The monsters of From are still something of an enigma, but the show has provided several clues to their identity and the very nature of the town.
ThoughWayward Pinesonly ran for two seasons before being cancelled,Fromcontinues to be a hit for MGM+,thanks in part to Stephen King’s frequent support on social media for the horror show. As such, McCulloch’s approach toTeacupmay actually work out in its favor should he have a multi-season plan for the project, and it proves as chilling as its genre companions. The trailer certainly points to it not only taking a page out ofFrom’s playbook, but also that ofA Quiet Place’s, which, when paired with Wan’s attachment, lays the foundation for success.
Our Take On Teacup’s Trailer
The Show Looks Chilling, If A Bit Familiar
As noted above,Teacuplooks to have a lot of similarities toFromand other small-town horror shows, which may prove well for the show’s success, though could also leave it feeling too familiar. Given McCammon’s novel has often been compared toJohn Carpenter’sThe Thing, I certainly remain open to the show’s chances, as few body-snatching horror titles have failed to match the 1982 classic. However, if the puzzle-box mystery structure presents more questions than answers by the end of its run, it may also turn out to be another disappointing attempt to recaptureLost’s success.
Teacuppremieres on Peacock on October 10, with two episodes airing weekly every following Thursday.
Teacup
Cast
Teacup is a horror thriller series that follows a group of people thrust into the middle of rural Georgia who must face off with an unknown threat to stay alive.
