INDIANAPOLIS — In "Teacup," strange things start happening to a family and their neighbors in rural Georgia. They then learn they're trapped and must put aside their differences to combat this mysterious threat.
Showrunner Ian McCulloch ("Yellowstone," "Chicago Fire") said horror filmmaker James Wan ("Saw," "The Conjuring") and his company asked McCulloch if he wanted to adapt a book called "Stinger," by Robert M. McCammon.
"I read it, and I loved it, but to me, it felt very much like a large, tentpole action-adventure movie. What we were talking about doing was a series, and hopefully, a Season 2, Season 3 and continuing series," McCulloch said. "With that in mind, what if we took the basic idea of the book, we took some of the things we really loved about it, and we put everything else aside and flipped it on its head."
McCulloch said this made "Teacup" much less of a spectacle and allowed audiences to become much more invested in the characters, led by Emmy nominee Yvonne Strahovski ("The Handmaids Tale," "Dexter"), Scott Speedman ("Felicity," "The Strangers"), Chaske Spencer ("The English," Twilight films) and Emmy winner Kathy Baker ("Picket Fences," "Street Smart").
Once the script was written, McCulloch then had to present it to McCammon for final approval.
"I said, 'Here, this is very different from your book. I've even changed the title for various reasons that have to do with the story of 'Teacup,' but also because I want to differentiate it from the book because the book exists, it's fantastic, go read the book. It's a very different experience,'" McCulloch said. "Mr. McCammon, thankfully, loved the idea and was on board, and we took it from there."
Also among the ensemble cast are terrific teen and child actors, who have major storylines in the eight-episode first season.
"Luciano (Leroux) and Émilie (Bierre), I knew the second I saw them that they were the ones," McCulloch said. "Caleb (Dolden), who plays Arlo, I actually had thought we were done looking at kids and had decided on someone, and then (casting director Meredith Tucker) sent three more, and the second I saw him, I was like, 'Oh wait, this is him.' With a child actor, you're definitely looking for something that's immediate because they're a kid. They're young, they're not Scott Speedman — they don't have years and years of experience."
McCulloch's fingers are crossed for additional seasons of "Teacup" — and it's evident after watching the thrilling season finale.
"The hope is that we get a Season 2. This is not set up as a close-ended limited series," McCulloch said. "If we don't, I'll be glad we got to do it. It was the hardest and best work I've ever done in my life."
New episodes of "Teacup" are released Thursdays through Oct. 31 on Peacock.