Cliffhanger and Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin is set to helm Lionsgate’s remake of the 2008 horror hit The Strangers.
Deadline report that Lionsgate plan for this to be the first part of a trilogy and that the Finnish director of The Long Kiss Goodnight has completed negotiations to oversee two subsequent films based on the 2008 home-invasion hit.
Production is already underway in Slovakia, with Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale), Froy Gutierrez (Hocus Pocus 2) and Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy) all heading to Central Europe to star in the remake.
This new Strangers movie follows Petsch and Gutierrez’s young couple as they drive cross-country to start their new life in the Pacific Northwest, only to be forced into spending the night in a secluded Airbnb when their car breaks down, where they then have to survive being terrorised by three masked strangers.
2008’s The Strangers was loosely based on true-events, one of which occurred in writer-director Bryan Bertino’s own neighbourhood, and told the story of a young couple, played by Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, whose quiet getaway descends into darkness following a knock at the door. Made on a budget of $9M, the film went on to gross $82M at the worldwide box-office and spawned 2018’s underwhelming follow-up The Strangers: Prey by Night.
Die Hard 2 director Harlin will be hoping that it’s third time lucky when it comes to tackling a horror property, having helmed notorious 2004 production nightmare Exorcist: The Beginning and 2006 dud The Covenant.
Let us know whether you’re looking forward to a visit from Renny Harlin’s The Strangers, or if you’ll be keeping the door firmly locked tight on this remake by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
