Robert McCammon’s cult classic horror novel sting gets the screen treatment with a twist from Ian McCulloch in Cup. Before the horror show Peacock, McCulloch primarily worked as a regular writer and executive producer in the television world, contributing to NBC series like Peacock. Chicago FireTaylor Sheridan Yellowstone and Stephen Dorff’s short-lived neo-western drama deputy. Although McCulloch was only a writer for 2–3 episodes of each, he was a consulting producer for much the majority of each series. Chicago Fire This is his longest tenure across all 23 episodes of Season 4.
WITH CupMcCulloch takes a completely unique approach to adapting McCammon’s novel, cutting out much of it and instead focusing the story on three families on a rural Georgia farm rather than a small town. The families find themselves trapped in a circle drawn by the mysterious McNab, a man in a gas mask who warns not to cross the circle’s boundaries and not to trust anyone. The group then encounters a series of strange phenomena, each of which seems to be related to something supernatural or paranormal that threatens them all.
Connected
The Handmaid’s TaleYvonne Strahovski leads the ensemble. Cup throw next to Gray’s AnatomyScott Speedman RanchKathy Baker, Emily Bier, Caleb Dolden, EchoChaske Spencer, EvilBoris McGeever and SmileThis is Rob Morgan. WITH Spell With universe creator James Wan also serving as an executive producer on the adaptation, the show proves to be a winning combination of enigmatic world-building, arresting imagery and captivating performances.
Ahead of the show’s premiere On-screen rant interviewed creator Ian McCulloch to discuss Cupthe challenges of making changes to McCammon’s novel to better suit his type of storytelling, the balance between character development and answers to the series’ mysteries, and the chances of the show continuing beyond its debut season.
McCulloch and The Writers Room’s mantra was: “Less is more“For the adaptation of the novel
“…McCammon totally agrees with this show.”
Screen Rant: I saw the first half Cupand I’m completely captivated by what I’ve seen so far. I know that when the trailer came out, your letter talked about wanting to preserve some of Robert’s source novel while still maintaining the stories you want to tell. Was there anything from the novel that you were really debating whether to keep or not do on this show?
Ian McCulloch: There were certainly a lot of things in the novel that I thought, “Oh, if only we could do that.” But once we made the decision to tell a story on a much smaller scale, a story about three families rather than an entire town, you have to choose. The mantra in the writers’ room, pre-production and production was: “Less is more. Less is more. Less is more.” I think the book is very big and vibrant and has a lot of settings, characters and things to look at.
We wanted to do something more in the Jaws mentality, which is that the less you see of the monster, the longer you engage the audience, the more effective it will be when you actually see something scary. It’s not like there’s a monster in our show – but maybe there is. I don’t know. I can’t tell you. I could tell you, I know what’s going on, but I’m not going to tell you so you can watch it. [Chuckles] So, less is more, so we had to choose. And then the great thing is, if we’re lucky enough to have subsequent seasons, then we’ll have this treasure trove of things that we can choose and bring into the world of our show from the book, because McCammon is very agreeable. with the show.
He came on set and had a blast and it’s just, yeah, a different experience. I think that’s what makes an adaptation exciting when it’s not told word by word, sentence by sentence, character by character, because otherwise you could read the book and know exactly how it’s going to go.
Peacock left McCulloch to slowly hand out answers (up to a point)
“It was a challenge to make sure we were faithful to the mythology we adapted from the book.”
I’d like to touch on that too because you also mentioned that this is a mystery/puzzle show and these shows have such a fine line between giving the audience answers while still keeping the focus on the characters. How difficult was it for you and the writers to find the right pacing to give the audience some idea of what’s going on while still keeping us on the edge of our seats until the very end with these characters?
Ian McCulloch: The challenge in the writers’ room was, “How do we give the audience clues, little breadcrumbs, without giving away any secrets or becoming expository?” It’s a writer’s nightmare, or at least a screenwriter’s nightmare: if you feel like your characters are opening up, you know you’re doing something wrong. You shouldn’t do this. And to the network’s credit, we weren’t asked to give any answers for the first half of the season. By episode five they said, “Okay, that’s enough, you need to tell us a little bit what’s going on.”
But they trusted us and I don’t think that was ever a problem. It was never a struggle. It was a challenge to make sure we were faithful to the mythology we adapted from the book. You play by certain rules, you play by those rules, and you don’t reveal how things work. It’s a balance, but it was more fun than a struggle or, I guess, a challenge. Of course it was a challenge, but it was more fun. This was the key to everything.
McCulloch has “Some ideas” For CupThe future (but with a catch)
“I want to be surprised by what’s happening…”
So you just mentioned subsequent seasons. Obviously we can’t get into spoilers, and I haven’t seen the second half of the season, but have you laid the groundwork and have an idea of how future seasons of the show might play out?
Ian McCulloch: Yes and no. I have some ideas, but I’m a writer who doesn’t like to simplify my work, meaning I don’t know what will happen in the end. I write as a spectator. I like to see what’s happening while I’m writing, which I don’t recommend, by the way. This is a really difficult and not the smartest way to do things. [Chuckles]
But if I knew everything that happened—let’s say there would be six seasons—then I wouldn’t have fun. Then I just dictate, I’m just a court stenographer. I want to be surprised by what’s happening, what the character is doing, where things are going. So, do I have any ideas? Yes. Do I know what’s going on? Absolutely not.
ABOUT Cup
TEACUP follows a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must band together in the face of a mysterious threat in order to survive. Inspired by Robert McCammon’s New York Times bestselling novel The Stinger.
Follow our others Cup interview with:
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Yvonne Strahovski and Scott Speedman
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Chaske Spencer and Rob Morgan
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Emily Bier and Caleb Dolden
Source: Screen Rant Plus