The Strangers: Chapter 1
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Based on the original 2008 cult horror franchise of the same name, the project features a young woman named Maya, who drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend 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.
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Lionsgate distributes.
Filmed in Bratislava, Slovakia back-to-back with the other two films in the trilogy.
Director Renny Harlin had another interview recently where he gives additional details on what fans can expect from the story that spans three films, saying: "It’s really Madelaine [Petsch]’s story. It’s kind of a remake of the original. We pretend that the sequel doesn’t exist at all. We just pretend that it’s all based on the original movie, and it’s Madelaine’s story. She survives the first home invasion, barely. Then, it’s her journey. What happens to her after that. All three movies basically take place in five days. It’s a very extreme story of a young, ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances and what happens to her. It’s also a chance for me — as a fan of the original movie – to look for answers for unanswered questions left open in the first. So, I tried to answer a lot of those and create new questions along the way in the next two." (1/18/24)
Director Renny Harlin offered more insight on the new trilogy in a recent interview, saying: "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 goes on to add that this new film "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." Lastly, as far as keeping the look of The Strangers, he had this to say: "We felt it was central to the movie that the masks are the same. 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." (10/4/23)
Lionsgate recently started promoting the film as "The Strangers Trilogy" on social media with a couple new images (in the gallery below) and the following: "Shut your window. Lock your door. They are coming. Get your first look of #TheStrangersTrilogy at NYCC with director Renny Harlin and producer Courtney Solomon on October 12th at 3pm." This seems to indicate that the new trilogy of films have already been shot and will all possibly get released next year. How and how far apart each film will be released remains to be seen. (9/8/23)
Producer Mark Canton was quoted saying: "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."
Producer Courtney Solomon was quoted saying: "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."
It's said that the filmmakers are "expanding the story in new and unexpected ways."
Directed by Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea, Mindhunters, Exorcist: The Beginning, Devil's Pass), who was quoted saying: "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."
Written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland (duo that wrote several eps of King of the Hill and the movie Due Date).
This is the first in a new trilogy of films. It will be followed by The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3.
This is remake of the 2008 with the same name that starred Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman.