Editing Brian De Palma (section)

=== 1976–1979: Breakthrough ===
In November 1976, De Palma released [[Carrie (1976 film)|an adaptation]] of [[Stephen King]]'s novel [[Carrie (novel)| ''Carrie'']].<ref>{{cite news |last=Eder |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Eder |date=November 17, 1976 |title=Film: After the Prom, the Horror |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/17/archives/film-after-the-prom-the-horror.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 29, 2017}}</ref> Though some see the [[psychic]] thriller as De Palma's bid for a blockbuster, the project was in fact small, underfunded by [[United Artists]], and well under the cultural radar during the early months of production, as King's novel was not yet a bestseller. De Palma gravitated toward the project and changed crucial plot elements based upon his own predilections. The cast was mostly young and relatively new, though [[Sissy Spacek]] and [[John Travolta]] had gained attention for previous work in, respectively, film and [[situation comedy|sitcoms]]. ''Carrie'' became De Palma's first genuine box-office success,<ref>{{cite news |last=Kael |first=Pauline |author-link=Pauline Kael |date=November 15, 1976 |title=The Curse |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1976/11/22/the-curse |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |access-date=January 29, 2017}}</ref> garnering Spacek and [[Piper Laurie]] Oscar nominations for their performances.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beahm |first=George |date=2015 |title=The Stephen King Companion: Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtJ0CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA463 |location=New York |publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]] |page=463 |isbn=978-1-250-05412-8}}</ref> Pre-production for the film had coincided with the casting process for [[George Lucas]]'s ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'', and many of the actors cast in De Palma's film had been earmarked as contenders for Lucas's movie, and vice versa.<ref>{{Cite magazine |access-date=December 4, 2011 |url=http://www.life.com/gallery/61531/image/2661928/almost-cast-who-lost-iconic-roles#index/53 |title=Sissy Spacek, Carrie Fisher{{Snd}} Princess Leia ('Star Wars'): Sissy Spacek{{Snd}} Almost Cast: Who Lost Iconic Roles?{{Snd}} Photo Gallery |magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |year=2011<!-- Approx <= 2011 --> |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630031645/https://www.life.com/gallery/61531/image/2661928/almost-cast-who-lost-iconic-roles |archive-date=2011-06-30 }}</ref> Its suspense sequences are buttressed by teen comedy tropes, and its use of [[split screen (film)|split-screen]], split-diopter and [[slow motion]] shots tell the story visually rather than through dialogue.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anastasova |first=Maria |date=2018 |title=The Suspense of Horror and the Horror of Suspense |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_N0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA159 |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]] |page=159 |isbn=978-1-5275-1801-8}}</ref> As for Lucas's project, De Palma complained in an early viewing of ''Star Wars'' that the opening text crawl was poorly written and volunteered to help edit the text to a more concise and engaging form.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Metz |first1=Cade |title=The 35th Birthday of ''Star Wars''? It Died 15 Years Ago |date=May 25, 2012|url=https://www.wired.com/2012/05/opinion-starwars/ |magazine=[[Wired (website)|Wired.com]] |publisher=Condé Nast Publishing |access-date=October 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025103934/http://www.wired.com/2012/05/opinion-starwars/|archive-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://time.com/4144367/star-wars-the-force-awakens-crawl/|title=Turn Any ''Time'' Story Into the Beginning of ''Star Wars''| date=December 13, 2015|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=December 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209125045/https://time.com/4144367/star-wars-the-force-awakens-crawl/|archive-date=December 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

The financial and critical success of ''Carrie'' allowed De Palma to pursue more personal material. [[Alfred Bester]]'s novel ''[[The Demolished Man]]'' had fascinated De Palma since the late 1950s and appealed to his background in mathematics and [[avant-garde]] storytelling. Its unconventional unfolding of plot (exemplified in its mathematical layout of dialogue) and its stress on perception have analogs in De Palma's filmmaking.{{sfn|Knapp|2003|p=167–168}} He sought to adapt it numerous times, though the project would carry a substantial price tag, and has yet to appear on-screen ([[Steven Spielberg]]'s 2002 adaptation of [[Philip K. Dick]]'s ''[[Minority Report (film)|Minority Report]]'' bears striking similarities to De Palma's visual style and some of the themes of ''The Demolished Man''). The result of his experience with adapting ''The Demolished Man'' was the 1978 science fiction psychic thriller [[The Fury (film)|''The Fury'']], starring [[Kirk Douglas]], [[Carrie Snodgress]], [[John Cassavetes]] and [[Amy Irving]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=March 15, 1978 |title=Film: De Palma Mixes Genres in 'Fury': Psyching a Spy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/15/archives/film-de-palma-mixes-genres-in-furypsyching-a-spy.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 29, 2017}}</ref> The film was admired by [[Jean-Luc Godard]], who featured a clip in his mammoth ''[[Histoire(s) du cinéma]]'', and [[Pauline Kael]], who championed both ''The Fury'' and De Palma.<ref>{{cite news |last=Scott |first=A. O. | author-link=A. O. Scott |date=September 17, 2006 |title=Say 'Brian De Palma.' Let the Fighting Start. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/movies/17scot.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 29, 2017}}</ref> The film boasted a larger budget than ''Carrie'', though the consensus view at the time was that De Palma was repeating himself, with diminishing returns.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chang |first1=Justin |last2=Olsen |first2=Mark |date=June 10, 2016 |title=Director Brian De Palma's underrated gems, decade by decade |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-brian-de-palma-underrated-gems-20160609-snap-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=January 29, 2017}}</ref>

[[File:John Travolta, Brian De Palma, and Nancy Allen (1981).jpg|thumb|left|[[John Travolta]], De Palma and [[Nancy Allen (actress)|Nancy Allen]] promoting ''Blow Out'']]