A remake of the cult classic horror movie The Stangers has been announced and has entered production in Slovakia. Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea) will direct this new entry in the series from Lionsgate. Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale), Froy Guiterrez (Cruel Summer), and Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy) will star. More than that, it’s also been announced that the franchise reboot will be the start of a whole new trilogy.

“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,” said Harlin.

Petsch and Gutierrez will play a young couple whose car breaks down as they travel cross-country to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest. They’re forced to spend the night at a secluded Airbnb in Venus, Oregon, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers, one of which might be who Basso is playing, but that hasn’t been officially announced yet.

“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,” said producer Courtney Solomon.

What Came Before and What Comes Next

The original Strangers film came out in 2008 and was written and directed by Bryan Bertino in his feature debut. Live Tyler and Scott Speedman starred as a young couple terrorized by three masked assailants: Dollface, Man in Mask, and Pin-Up Girl. A sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night, was released ten years later and starred Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, and Lewis Pullman.

“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,” said producer Mark Canton.

Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland (The Freak Brothers, Due Date) will write the inaugural installment. Solomon (Cake, After film franchise) and Canton (Power Universe, 300) will produce the film alongside Christopher Milburn (The Protégé, Unhinged), Gary Raskin (Midway), Charlie Dombeck (The War with Grandpa), and Alastair Birlingham (Moonfall). Andrei Boncea, Dorothy Canton, and Roy Lee are exec producing alongside Rafaella Biscayn. At the same time, the Slovakia-based Frame Film SK, Johanna Harlin, Juan Garcia Peredo, and Alberto Burgueno will serve as co-producers.

“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,” said Eda Kowan, Lionsgate’s EVP of Acquisitions & Co-Productions.