Oscar Winner Rachel Shenton Co-Stars in THE STRANGERS Remake
A couple of months ago it was announced that Lionsgate was going to reboot the horror franchise The Strangers with a whole new trilogy of films. The first of these films has already wrapped production, and it’s just been announced that it stars Oscar winner Rachel Shenton. She earned her Academy Award for best live-action short film for The Silent Child, which she wrote and starred in.
It’s pretty cool to see her career take a big step forward in her career with a film project like this. She joins Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale, Jane), who “drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Froy Gutierrez, Cruel Summer, Hocus Pocus 2, Teen Wolf) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest.”
In the movie, “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.” Shenton plays Debbie, the sister to Petsch’s character.
Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea, Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight) directed the movie from a script written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland (The Freak Brothers, Due Date).
When previously talking about the film producer Courtney Solomon said in a statement: “When setting out to remake The Strangers, we felt there was a bigger story to be told, which could be as powerful, chilling, and terrifying as the original and could really expand that world. Shooting this story as a trilogy allows us to create a hyperreal and terrifying character study. We’re fortunate to be joining forces with Madelaine Petsch, an amazing talent whose character is the driving force of this story.”
Producer Mark Canton added: “When you’ve got two horror aficionados like Courtney Solomon and Renny Harlin coming together, you’ve got all you need to create some incredibly smart, lean-forward-in-your-seat, addictively thrilling entertainment. Fans of the original film will be blown away; new audiences will discover the intensely unnerving world of The Strangers.”
Eda Kowan, Lionsgate’s EVP of Acquisitions & Co-Productions, shared: “The Strangers taps into such primal fears that it will always be relevant – but what truly sets this project apart is the way the filmmakers have expanded the story and given these characters a new life.”
Renny Harlin said: “My mother instilled the love of movies in me through the world of Hitchcock and other masters of suspense and horror. 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.”
I thought the first movie of this franchise was great! It’s definitely one of those horror movies to watch. I hope this new trilogy of films turns out to be good!