New The Strangers Trilogy Will Reference Original Films

Horror movies might be the easiest films in Hollywood to franchise. Halloween has thirteen movies (and a TV show on the way), Friday the 13th has twelve movies, and Amityville has become a catch-all name for a slew of low-budget schlock. Knowing that it's a little surprising that 2008's The Strangers took ten years to get just one sequel, and since then it's just been the two movies. That will soon change as the franchise is getting a facelift in the form of not just one new movie, but an entire trilogy that has already been shot and will be released next year. 

Speaking with ComicBook.com in a new interview, director Renny Harlin (who helmed all three of the new movies) opened up about his plans for the new trilogy. When asked if the new movie, which he describes as not really a reboot nor a remake, would reference the other two The Strangers movies, Harlin replied: "Definitely." The filmmaker continued though, perhaps implying that any references to the original movies might be more in an Easter egg capacity and not in terms of continuity. He adds:

"I have to say that the original Strangers is one of my favorite horror films ever. I remember seeing it and, and not knowing anything about it and being just blown away that how random it's violence is, how these people get into a city situation which they don't understand at all. And us as the audience keep wondering why. And we realized like, like you said, it's just because they happen to be home in that house. And that's exactly what we are exploring. For me, it was very important to give the fans of the original film, give them the same experience. Obviously, the movie is not a carbon copy in any way, but it definitely has a similar story of two young people in an environment that should be cozy and safe and turns out to be a night of all nightmares. And I think it was very important to give the fans the similar experience that they enjoyed the first time. And then those who don't know anything about the original can come here here just with no expectations, give them something that will blow their socks off."

"I, as a fan of the original film, I wanted something that feels familiar, feels, truthful to the original. And then we obviously, we made a second movie and a third movie at the same time because we wanted to explore uh the  reasons behind this.  I feel like myself, and I'm sure a lot of the people who love the love, the original film were asking the question, like, why did this happen? And who were these people? And where did they come from and where are they going next? And that's the kind of answers that I wanted to explore in the second and the third movie and  just go beyond what the original movie was."

The Strangers: Chapter 1 cast includes former Riverdale star Madelaine Petsch as Maya, with Froy Gutierrez as Ryan, and Rachel Shenton as Debbie. A previously released description for the movie described it as follows:  "From master director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Die Hard 2, The Exorcist: The Beginning) comes a new trilogy of terror. In Chapter I, Madelaine Petsch (TV's Riverdale) stars as a young woman starting a new life with her fiancé. Suddenly, during a road trip stop in a remote vacation rental in the woods, they become the prey of a mysterious gang of masked strangers who attack without warning or reason. What begins as a fight to stay alive becomes one woman's journey of courage and cunning in this horror series bridging three compelling films." 

No official release date for The Strangers: Chapter 1 has been confirmed, but the movie and its two sequels will be released in 2024.