Widely considered one of the great home invasion slasher films of all time, it took a ridiculous ten years for Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers to get a proper sequel – the criminally underrated The Strangers: Prey at Night, directed by Johannes Roberts.

It’s nearly been another five since the masked killers slashed up a trailer park, and now, it appears there are fresh plans for their return.

Bertino’s original screenplay was discovered by Roy Lee, the powerhouse producer of hit horror films including The Ring, Poltergeist (2015), Blair Witch, and IT (2017).

Next up for Lee is the highly-anticipated Barbarian, 20th Century Studios and New Regency’s thriller that opens in theaters next month.

Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew Podcast had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Lee over the weekend, who was asked about the possibility of another Strangers sequel.

What he revealed is quite shocking…

“I think the next three are in production next month with another filmmaker that people will know,” Lee tells us exclusively.

He didn’t share any other details but the only other time anything like this has happened was with Netflix, who produced three Fear Street films back-to-back-to-back with a single filmmaker.

Universal Pictures was behind the first film while Aviron Pictures distributed the sequel. It’s unclear who is behind the new trilogy, but this should be nothing short of explosive news when it’s eventually announced.

In the 2008 movie The Strangers, the masked trio slashed up Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman at their vacation home, while the sequel took the terror to a trailer park. Any guesses where the new trilogy will take place? Maybe a high rise (I kid)?

As we reported yesterday, it looks like THREE new sequels to The Strangers are on the menu, with producer Roy Lee (The Ring, Poltergeist, Blair Witch, IT, Barbarian) telling Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew Podcast that “the next three are in production next month.” What can we expect from the third, fourth, and fifth installments in The Strangers franchise, you ask?

For starters, Bloody Disgusting did some digging in the past 24 hours and we have been able to slash up some more exclusive intel. We’re now being told that Renny Harlin is on board to direct one if not all three brand new upcoming sequels in The Strangers franchise!

Renny Harlin has a long history in the horror genre, most notably directing A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in 1988. Harlin’s horror credits also include Prison (1987), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), The Covenant (2006), and Devil’s Pass (2013).

Outside the horror genre, Renny Harlin has directed notable films including Die Hard 2 (1990), Cliffhanger (1993), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), and The Legend of Hercules (2014).

Renny Harlin is needless to say a very interesting choice to take over The Strangers franchise, and it’s probably safe to expect that he’ll inject new life and new energy into the saga.

Stay tuned for more on all things The Strangers as we learn it.

The Strangers began in 2008 with Bryan Bertino’s original home invasion horror movie, a terrifying film that introduced three masked killers who returned 10 years later with The Strangers: Prey at Night in 2018. The first film took place in a remote house in the woods while the sequel brought the murderous Man in the Mask, Dollface and Pinup Girl into a trailer park.

Where will they strike next? We’ll find out real soon…

As Bloody Disgusting recently told you, The Strangers franchise is coming back to life with a brand new trilogy of movies, and the official press release just went out this afternoon.Lionsgate announced today it has begun production on The Strangers remake, set to be a trilogy of films being produced in Bratislava, Slovakia. Based on the original 2008 cult horror franchise of the same name, the project features rising star 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. 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 filmmakers are expanding the story in new and unexpected ways over three films. Additional cast includes Gabe Basso (Hillbilly Elegy). Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea, Die Hard 2) is directing from a script by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland (The Freak Brothers, Due Date). Lionsgate will distribute worldwide.

“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,” explained producer Courtney Solomon. “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.”

The Strangers remake trilogy is produced by Solomon (“Cake,” “After” film franchise), Mark Canton (“Power” Universe, “300”), Christopher Milburn (The Protégé, Unhinged), Gary Raskin (“Midway”), Charlie Dombeck (“The War with Grandpa”), Alastair Birlingham (“Moonfall”) and Executive Producers Andrei Boncea, Dorothy Canton, and Roy Lee, along with co-producer Rafaella Biscayn and Slovakia-based Frame Film SK. Johanna Harlin, Juan Garcia Peredo and Alberto Burgueno also co-produce the film.

Said Mark Canton, “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, added, “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.”

Renny Harlin has a long history in the horror genre, most notably directing A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in 1988. Harlin’s horror credits also include Prison (1987), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), The Covenant (2006), and Devil’s Pass (2013).

Outside the horror genre, Renny Harlin has directed notable films including Die Hard 2 (1990), Cliffhanger (1993), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), and The Legend of Hercules (2014).

The Strangers began in 2008 with Bryan Bertino’s original home invasion horror movie, a terrifying film that introduced three masked killers who returned 10 years later with The Strangers: Prey at Night in 2018. The first film took place in a remote house in the woods while the sequel brought the murderous Man in the Mask, Dollface and Pinup Girl into a trailer park.

Cliffhanger and Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin is no stranger to The Strangers, the 2008 home invasion horror film in which a couple played by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman face off against masked killers."I remember the experience of seeing it," says Harlin, whose own horror credits include 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and 2004's Exorcist: The Beginning. "I didn't really know anything about it when I saw it and I just loved it. I thought it was fantastic and it's stuck in my mind as one of my favorite horror films." The Strangers fan is now a Strangers filmmaker — three times over. Harlin has directed a trilogy of movies inspired by filmmaker Bryan Bertino's original film. "When this opportunity came to me, the idea of not doing a remake or a reboot but doing a trilogy based on the original film, I thought it was an incredible opportunity," he says.


The Strangers: Chapter 1 stars Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) as a young woman named Maya starting a new life with her fiancé Ryan, played by Froy Gutierrez (Teen Wolf, Cruel Summer). During a road trip stop at a remote vacation rental in the woods, they become the prey of a mysterious gang of masked strangers who attack without warning or reason. Harlin explains that the first film, written by Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland, "is close to the original movie in its set-up of a young couple in an isolated environment in a house and a home invasion happening for random reasons."

The director teases that the trilogy, which is completed by The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3, will "explore what happens to the victims of this kind of violence and who the perpetrators are of this kind of violence. Where are they coming from and why?"



Harlin admits that casting his two leads was a testing task.

"Obviously Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman did a fantastic job in the original film and those were some big shoes to fill," says the director. "We looked long and hard for our scream queen. When I spoke with Madelaine I just knew that she was an exceptional person, exceptional actor, and that's what it took to play this part. In the same way, after looking long and hard, we found Froy Gutierrez, who is another wonderful young actor. We wanted a couple who feel natural and relaxed together. Their relationship, maybe it's not identical to the relationship in the original film, but it's something that feels very natural and very real, and that to me was the key to this movie and this trilogy. It's the realism."



The way the director tells it, a similar amount of effort was put into recreating the masks worn by the killers in the original movie as into picking the cast.

"We felt it was central to the movie that the masks are the same," says Harlin. "The masks in The Strangers are not like the Batsuit or something that evolves over years. To us, the Strangers are the Strangers, and I, as an audience member, wanted to see them just the way they were in the original film. Is there a place where you can find these masks? No. It was a process of studying what they were like, how were they made, how they fit on the actors' faces, how [to] create that same impression. It was one of the real challenges of the movie."

Harlin shot all three films simultaneously last year in Slovakia. The director says the production was, "the challenge of a lifetime, but I also really embraced it. On a Monday morning, I could be shooting the second chapter, and Monday afternoon I could be shooting the first chapter, and Tuesday morning I could be shooting the third chapter. it was incredibly demanding for the actors, for the continuity in terms of the make-up and wardrobe, and for my director of photography, because we wanted to create a visual language that develops so that the movies get bigger, more epic, as we go [on]. It just kept all of our juices pumping all the time."

The Strangers Trilogy is set for release in theaters next year. Harlin and producer Courtney Solomon will be participating in a panel about the three films at New York Comic Con on Oct. 12.

Exclusively see first look images from The Strangers: Chapter 1 above.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 - Coming 2024. Watch the first clip starring Madelaine Petsch that debuted today at New York Comic Con.

From director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Die Hard 2, The Exorcist: The Beginning) comes The Strangers: Chapter 1. Madelaine Petsch (TV’s “Riverdale”) stars as a young woman on a road trip with her fiancé. But when they stop at a remote vacation rental in the woods, they become the prey of a vicious gang of masked strangers who attack without warning or reason, and must use courage and cunning to survive one long, terrifying night.