Ten years is a lifetime in the film industry.
To put that into perspective, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was viewed as little more than wishful thinking back in 2007, when Jon Favreau and the Powers That Be quietly began plotting an Iron Man post-credits scene involving a certain Nick Fury. Twelve months later, Favreau’s standalone pic launched Robert Downey Jr.’s career into the stratosphere and the rest is history. But 2008 also witnessed the release of a lesser-known horror pic. Its name? The Strangers.
Headed up by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, the home invasion thriller became something of a cult hit nine years ago and now, after enduring a prolonged spell in pre-production, The Strangers 2 is officially on the cards. It’s found its leading trio, too, now that former Mad Men star Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, and Lewis Pullman have all climbed aboard to anchor the horror sequel.
Johannes Roberts of 47 Meters Down fame is at the helm, directing a script penned by Strangers scribes Bryan Bertino and Ben Ketai. The elevator pitch? Hendricks, Madison, and Pullman will form a dysfunctional family unit “whose road trip takes a turn when they arrive at a secluded mobile home park and the power goes out. As they hunker down for the night in a borrowed trailer, three familiar masked psychopaths pay them a visit to test their every limit.”
Sounds like a solid premise for the film, and last week while promoting his new effort, the aforementioned 47 Meters Down, Roberts spoke about how John Carpenter’s work will influence the sequel. At the time, he didn’t expand too much on what he’s got planned, but now, while talking with Crave Online, the director elaborated a bit more on what we can expect.
“We play with the truck a lot in this one, and that’s kind of fun,” he told the site. “It has a slight Christine feel to it. That’s kind of cool. You know, The Strangers’ truck in the first one. That plays quite an iconic role in this.”
Genre fans will know that Roberts is referring to the 1983 horror film here, which featured an evil car with a mind of its own. It’s actually based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name and though not one of Carpenter’s best efforts, it’s generally well regarded by fans. So, to hear that Christine will influence this upcoming sequel is certainly promising.
That’s all we’ve got to report on for now, but given that we really enjoyed the original, it’s great to see The Strangers 2 finally coming together. And with a capable director at the helm, one who’s clearly looking in the right places for influence, we’re fairly optimistic that Roberts will be able to deliver an outing that’s just as unsettling and full of dread as its predecessor.
