2009 July 31 « Entertainment Today and Beyond

THE STRANGERS sequel now a reality

The Strangers -1 Intrepid Pictures has announced that it is planning a September production start on a sequel to its hit horror film, The Strangers. Director of the original Bryan Bertino, has written the script for this follow-up but the directorial reins will reportedly be handed over to French new comer Laurent Briet. At this point there’s no word on the storyline as it’s being kept under wraps.

Released in 2008, the original film starred Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a young couple terrorized by masked assailants at their remote summer house. It was shot for $9 million and grossed a very profitable $80 million worldwide. The trailer cut for the film was easily one of the best of the year and helped generate buzz for the film weeks before its release on May 30, 2008. If rumors are true that Liv Tyler will be back, it clearly would set up this sequel as a revenge story. At this point it’s just a rumor. I can’t say that this follow-up is necessary but when a movie pulls in almost ten times its production cost you’re going to get one.

I thought Bertino created some great suspense for the first half of The Strangers but certain scenes in the film’s latter half go on too long and that hurt the overall movie. Still I liked it as it was a pretty solid film in its genre. It’s also no secret that many in the mainstream crowd were turned off by its very bleak ending. It will be interesting to see if they can turn this into a long running franchise. Here’s a LOOK at the great trailer to the original The Strangers.