The film was written by Bryan Fuller, directed by David Carson, and stars Angela Bettis in the leading role.

Filmed in Vancouver, it was commissioned as a stand-alone feature by the network but the studios intended it as a backdoor pilot for a potential television series.

It was criticized for poor special effects, lack of a horror atmosphere, and long runtime; however, the performances from the cast, particularly Bettis and Patricia Clarkson, were heavily acclaimed.

Making her way home, Carrie is accosted by a boy on a bicycle, whose joke goes wrong when he inexplicably flies off his bike and crashes into a tree.

Her fanatically religious mother, Margaret White, who considers menstruation a sign of sexual sin, locks Carrie in her "prayer closet" as punishment.

After Chris' father, John Hargensen, a lawyer, unsuccessfully attempts to rescind the ban, she enlists her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, to get revenge on Carrie.

The sprinkler system gets activated, and when Carrie brings down an electronic scoreboard to hit the wet floor, it sends an electric shock to everyone else in the gymnasium, killing them all, except for a few students who escape through a vent with Ms. Desjarden.

[8] Another adaptation was developed with the intention of creating a sub-plot for the series, featuring Jasmine Guy as a paranormal investigator, but was ultimately scrapped.

[8] The writer said Bettis' portrayal of the role was meant to give Carrie a "more edgy" characterization instead of the "victim" feeling he believed Sissy Spacek gave to her in De Palma's film.

[8] Because Fuller felt the Columbine High School massacre was still on people's recent memory, he was careful in addressing the film's "teenage vigilante" theme.

The site's critics consensus reads: "This made-for-TV adaptation of Stephen King's classic fails to impress or bring anything new to the table, - or to the prom - paling even more in comparison to the 1970's memorable version".

[9] John Levesque of Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Anthony Arrigo of Dread Central, however, felt the former alteration was not an improvement, calling the conclusion "so undramatic" and "undeniably weak", respectively.

[19][20] While Johnson considered the film "a respectable piece of work", owing to an intelligent script that developed all of King's themes,[17] Wertheimer classified it negatively within "the generic made-for-television standard".

[9] Ian Jane of DVD Talk opined Carrie was "decent enough" for the limitations of a TV film,[13] and Arrigo said "the lack of cinematic quality" reflected the television standards of the 2000s.

[19] Although Wertheimer claimed that the film's drawbacks were not simply caused by the medium, he did make the criticism that the prom scenes were sapped by the commercial breaks: the filmmakers, he argued, should have opted for a shorter sequence.

[9] SF Gate's Edward Guthmann also criticized the film's overall length, especially in regard to the prom scene, as he considered the "dramatic impact" was not enhanced.

[6] Randy Miller III of DVD Talk said that the home media release evidenced "gaps in the action" caused by the commercials.

[20] Gallo found that it deviated from horror in favor of "prurient side routes", mentioning Sofer's acting, as well as locker-room and post-coital scenes.

[22][23] It was also nominated for the 2003 American Society of Cinematographers Awards in the "Movie of the Week or Pilot (Network)" category; CSI: Miami's "Cross Jurisdictions" won it.

[5] Fuller and Bettis were expected to reprise their roles, and the writer had a concept in mind: he hoped to create a series in which Carrie had to deal with the remorse and the responsibility for killing several people.

Directed by Kimberly Peirce and starring Chloë Grace Moretz, it was created after producers felt the 2002 version did not capture modern bullying.