“Why are you doing this to us?”
“Because you were home.”
As horror fans know, that chilling exchange between Liv Tyler‘s Kristen and Gemma Ward’s home-invading “Dollface” is from The Strangers, writer-director Bryan Bertino’s 2008 horror film about three masked maniacs who persecute an innocent couple, and one of the most terrifying movies ever made.
Given the movie’s rep, it was only a matter of time before a remake appeared on the horizon and today it was announced that production has begun in Bratislava, Slovakia on a new version of The Strangers, which this time around will be a trilogy of films based on Bertino’s original movie.
The project stars Riverdale actress Madelaine Petsch, whose character drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Froy Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. From there, the story will expand over three films. Cliffhanger and Deep Blue Sea filmmaker Renny Harlin is directing from a script by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. Lionsgate will distribute worldwide.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images; Everett Collection Madelaine Petsch and Liv Tyler in The Strangers
“My mother instilled the love of movies in me through the world of Hitchcock and other masters of suspense and horror,” Harlin said in a statement. “My breakthrough to Hollywood happened with the success of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. It is only fitting that I get to return to my favorite genre with the incredibly well written trilogy of The Strangers. The characters and the storyline are all grounded in reality and offer me an endless tapestry of haunting visuals in bringing these movies alive.”
A sequel to Bertino’s The Strangers, director Johannes Roberts’ The Strangers: Prey at Night, starring Christina Hendricks and Top Gun: Maverick actor Lewis Pullman, was released in 2018.
Watch the trailer for Bertino’s The Strangers below.
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