We’ve known for a little while now that The Handmaid’s Tale ’s Yvonne Strahovski would be starring in a new Peacock horror series from James Wan’s Atomic Monster. But even with the arrival of promo material, the storyline surrounding the production has been rather mysterious. This weekend at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, the show will celebrate its world premiere, with the good folks behind the title giving those of us at home an official trailer to tide us over. Thanks to the new footage, we have a much better idea of the chaos that will break out when Teacup arrives on Peacock with a two-episode premiere on October 10.
With the upbeat tune playing at the top of the Teacup trailer, one could easily fall into thinking that the series will be a cheerful drama or even a rom-com, but don’t you worry, because it doesn’t last long. After alluding to the show’s title, with Strahovski’s character telling her son about the tempest and the teacup, a big storm begins to roll in with dark clouds covering the sky over the family’s farm. After a goat takes off from the barn, the young boy goes after him, following the animal into the dark, foreboding woods. When he returns, he tells his worried family that there’s a man in his head warning them all that something sinister is on the way — we love a spooky and all-knowing kid! The rest of the trailer is pretty trippy with a guy in a gas mask leaving the family with ominous messages and plenty of other jump scares that you’d expect from the man who brought audiences The Conjuring and Insidious franchises.
Along with Strahovski, Teacup also features the talents of Scott Speedman (Grey’s Anatomy), Chaske Spencer (The English), Rob Morgan (Don’t Look Up), Kathy Baker (Edward Scissorhands), Boris McGiver (House of Cards), Caleb Dolden (The Requiem Boogie), Emilie Bierre (Jenny) and Luciano Leroux (Yellowjackets). Ian McCulloch, who holds credits as a producer on such titles as Yellowstone and Chicago Fire, makes his showrunning debut with Teacup. He also produces alongside Wan and Wan’s Atomic Robot.
Ian McCulloch Describes ‘Teacup’ As “A Slow Burn”
In part, Teacup serves as a sort-of adaptation of Robert R. McCammon’s novel, Stinger. During a chat with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff over the summer at San Diego Comic-Con, McCulloch explained the major differences between the book and the show, and how he shifted it to better adhere to an on-screen, episodic telling.
“
Stinger
, the book, is gargantuan. It’s an epic novel. It’s brash, it’s got big set pieces, lots of characters, an entire town under siege and my vision when they asked if I wanted to adapt it was to flip it on its head, take all of that away. I wish I’d come up with this turn of phrase,
but I wanted to turn it into a keyhole epic, which means a very large story told through a very small lens
. So that’s what I did. I took away most of the characters. I focused on the central family. I took away the town. I focused it on a secluded farm. I was saying before, we turn down the temperature. It’s a slow burn as opposed to a big explosion of the book.”
You can check out the official trailer for Teacup above as well as new imagery below.
