It isn’t a big surprise, but MGM has formally offered Julianne Moore the nightmarish religious fanatic mother in the Kimberly Peirce-directed remake of the 1976 film Carrie. Chloe Moretz is already set to play the title character, a young woman whose devastating telepathic powers rear up when she reaches puberty. Kevin Misher is producing.

Moore’s name has been in the mix for a while, but at the time MGM maintained it was talking to numerous actresses. Now, they’ve sent Moore the script and a pay or play offer to play Margaret White, the role that Piper Laurie rode to an Oscar nomination. (Moore just got done playing Sarah Palin in the Jay Roach-directed HBO film Game Change, but Margaret White makes the former vice presidential candidate seem like a raging liberal.) The film is based on the 1974 Stephen King novel that was first filmed by director Brian De Palma. Sissy Spacek played Carrie White, and both she and Laurie got Oscar noms. Moore is repped by CAA and Management 360.