Rumor Patrol: Megan Fox to Star in ‘Carrie’ Remake

No classic horror title is safe from the remake syndrome nowadays – and Brian De Palma’s well-known 1976 adaptation of the Stephen King novel, Carrie, is the latest cinematic scarefest that is being prepped for a makeover – courtesy of MGM and Screen Gem.

News regarding active development on a Carrie remake only broke at the end of last week, but already there’s a big name actress reportedly interested in playing the titular teenager: the 25-year-old starlet of the first two Transformers movies, Megan Fox.

Fox was apparently approached at one point to play Wonder Woman on-screen (in the recently-defunct TV series reboot, perhaps?) but Showbiz Spy claims it has been informed by sources close to the actress that “she wants to move on to more serious roles.” Hence her interest in playing Carrie – and, by implication, why she is not appearing in this summer’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon (be sure to take all of that with a grain of salt).

The actress played a teenager who seeks vengeance upon those who wronged her (with the use of supernatural powers) once before in the horror-comedy Jennifer’s Body, which failed to impress critics and didn’t exactly rake in cash at the box office. More importantly: Does Fox even remotely resemble the kind of person who’d be mocked by her high school peers and looked down upon as an awkward outcast – like Sissy Spacek did when she played Carrie in De Palma’s film?

Regardless of whether you think Fox wasn’t allowed a fair chance to demonstrate her acting prowess in the first two Transformers movies – or if you feel she really is just a pretty face and nothing more – it’s near impossible to argue that casting the actress as Carrie makes sense, at least from an artistic standpoint. The argument that Fox would increase the box office potential of Carrie doesn’t hold water either, as illustrated by the failure of Jennifer’s Body – and that was in spite of the film being scripted by Diablo Cody (fresh off her Oscar win for Juno) and boasting (among other things) a scene in which Fox and Amanda Seyfried locked lips.

It ought to be mentioned that the idea of Fox starring in the new Carrie is strictly RUMOR at this point – and while this casting move certainly isn’t out of the question, it’s far from a sure thing right now. On the other hand: there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of enthusiasm for another cinematic take on King’s spooky coming-of-age tale as is, so it’s difficult to say whether this rumor will help or hinder the current outlook for the project.

We’ll keep you posted on the status of the Carrie remake as more information is released.