TEACUP
The First Two Episodes, “Think About the Bubbles” & “My Little Lighthouse,” Premiere Thursday, October 10, Only on Peacock
Ep 1: Think About the Bubbles
Based on Robert R. McCammon‘s novel Stinger, Peacock’s original series TEACUP finds a tiny rural community in distress as something unknown affects the animals and the electricity. We meet veterinarian Maggie Chenoweth, her two children, and the husband whose suggested infidelity drives a wedge between them. Their young son, Arlo, wanders into the woods only to come face to face with a bloodied and disturbed woman rambling incoherently. His return finds a child changed. Some mysterious force pushes these neighbors together while simultaneously pulling them apart. The first episode is a soldier teaser for what to expect. It is evident the story comes from a book. The tone of the script plays out like novella chapters. Each character intrigues with only a bit of background. The episode ends on a truly frightening note. You are hooked.
Ep 2: My Little Lighthouse
Our small group of stranded folks begins to connect under their strange circumstances. Yvonne Strahovski captivates as Maggie. She is a force of nature without a hint of overbearing. Her chemistry with Caleb Dolden as Arlo gives us an emotional attachment point that holds strong.
The mystery holds in this second episode. What crumbs we do get leads to more questions and fear. A genuine “Oh, F*CK” moment throws our cast into greater chaos. Your heart will be in your throat witnessing the horrendous special FX makeup. Each hour ends with a song that is also the episode’s title. It is a clever and disturbing device. James Wan is genre gold. The fact that he co-produces alongside creator Ian McCulloch should get horror fans to tune in automatically.
The First Two Episodes, “Think About the Bubbles” & “My Little Lighthouse,” Premiere Thursday, October 10, Only on Peacock
Ep 101: Think About The Bubbles (Streaming Oct. 10)
Written By: Ian McCulloch
Directed By: E.L. Katz
Logline: There’s something in the air at the Chenoweths’ isolated farm/clinic; the animals are acting strangely, and the humans are uneasy. Maggie is doing her best to avoid a tense conversation with her husband, James, when their son, Arlo, goes missing. The rest of the family, including grandmother Ellen and daughter Meryl, join the search, along with several neighbors…
Ep 102: My Little Lighthouse (Streaming Oct. 10)
“All killer, no filler”
Stephen King, Horror Legend & Author
ABOUT Teacup:
Premiere Date: The first two episodes premiere on Thursday, October 10, 2024 followed by two episodes weekly through Halloween.
Synopsis: TEACUP follows a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must come together in the face of a mysterious threat in order to survive. Inspired by the New York Times bestselling novel Stinger by Robert McCammon.
Writer / Executive Producer: Ian McCulloch (Yellowstone, Deputy, Chicago Fire)
Director (101, 102) / Executive Producer: E.L. Katz (The Haunting of Bly Manor, Channel Zero)
Executive Producers: James Wan (The Conjuring Universe, Archive 81, M3GAN), Michael Clear (Archive 81, Swamp Thing) and Rob Hackett (Archive 81, I Know What You Did Last Summer) for Atomic Monster, Francisca X. Hu, Kevin Tancharoen
Executive Producer / Author (Stinger): Robert McCammon
Cast: Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman, Chaske Spencer, Kathy Baker, Boris McGiver, Caleb Dolden, Emilie Bierre, Luciano Leroux
Studio: UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group
Genre/Format: Horror Thriller, 8 x 30 Min Episodes
NOTE FROM IAN MCCULLOCH (SHOWRUNNER/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
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…
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…
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.
NOTE FROM JAMES WAN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
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!
I’m happy to say I enjoyed Halloween Ends quite a bit more than Halloween Kills. I also fully admit this movie won’t be everyone’s cup of tea (or, in Michael Myer’s terms, everyone’s kitchen knife.) Director David Gordon Green and co-writer Danny McBride are grappling with big ideas, and take some bold narrative swings in this film. This is a movie that is less concerned with slices and screams. Instead, it reflects on the nature of evil, as well as the long-lasting effects of trauma and pain on both survivors and bystanders.
Ultimately, what drew me to this film was the inevitable confrontation between Laurie and The Shape, and there Halloween Ends does deliver. It is exciting and exhilarating and left me wanting more. So much of this is due to Jamie Lee Curtis’ performance. In 2018’s Halloween, Laurie Strode was a type of haunted doomsday prepper – her every moment and movement was dominated by a fear of Michael Myers returning. In this final iteration, Laurie is looser and more free. She bakes pies and makes jokes. But she is not naïve. After 44 years and 6 prior appearances. Curtis still brings such fire to this character. All of the film’s best moments belong to her, and they are worth the price of admission.
As revelations of the allegations against Lee-Curtis come to light, the complex nature of the story gets stickier. The dialogue is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Ebo makes full use of righteous indignation to excuse/cover sins. The script mirrors real life so accurately it is shocking. The hidden shame, faux outrage, and especially the hypocrisy, every character in Honk For Jesus is lying to themselves.
Regina Hall plays Trinitie Childs. Doing her best dutiful wife with a plastered smile, Hall is perfection. Each beat jumps off the screen. But there are cracks beneath the surface, waiting for the precise moment to break free. Sterling K. Brown as Lee-Curtis Childs is an explosive ball of energy. It’s a powerful and physical performance. Brown’s relentless commitment to the absurd makes this film as intriguing as it is funny. The chemistry between Hall and Brown is spectacular. It is an equal partnership of fierceness. The support they give to one another in every scene is palpable.
Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. is a fight for the Childs’ last remaining shred of dignity. The balance of over-the-top farce and deep-seated issues creates a hell of a story. Blind faith is a dangerous thing. Adamma Ebo knows it, and so too shall audiences.
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