One of this year’s most interesting horror experiments is The Strangers: Chapter 1. More specifically, getting at the “Chapter 1” part of that title, which implies that this is just part of a larger whole. That is, indeed, the case as Lionsgate has partnered with director Renny Harlin on an entire trilogy of movies based on Bryan Bertino’s original 2008 home invasion classic. All three of these movies will hit theaters within the span of a year, beginning with the first installment later this month. Down the line though, it seems Harlin intends to cut all three films into one four-hour horror epic.
In a new interview with Variety, it’s explained that Lionsgate has at least considered the idea of distilling the trilogy down into one film that could run four and a half hours when all’s said and done. “Some version of that we’ve discussed at a high level that we’d like to see at some point,” said Lionsgate’s executive vice president of global distribution Geobert Abboud. Harlin, for his part, added that he knows precisely how they would accomplish such a feat.
“It’s in our heads. This is definitely what we want to do. We want to cut together the full arc. We know exactly how to do it, then we’ll create a movie and see who are those diehard fans who will come to the movie theater for four and a half hours. I don’t know if we need to have an intermission so people can get some food and go to the bathroom, but I definitely want to have that event and see if people take four and a half hours of dread and fear and terror and despair.”
That would be a fascinating experiment, to be certain. The Strangers: Chapter 2 does not currently have a release date, but it’s expected to arrive in the fall. Chapter 3 would likely arrive early next year to bring the story to a close. So this four-hour version could, presumably, see the light of day later in 2025, if all goes well. The new trilogy stars Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez. The synopsis for the first installment reads as follows:
“After their car breaks down in an eerie small town, a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in The Strangers: Chapter 1, the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.”
“We wanted to take the audience on a journey,” Harlin said of their goal for the trilogy. “The movies get more epic as we go but without losing the sense of claustrophobia, dread and the tone, which is reality. As a filmmaker, your instinct when you’re doing an action movie is that bigger is better. In this one, my job was to rein myself in and always make sure that it’s real. Many times, smaller was actually better. The most important thing is that the movies keep the sense of reality, but where we take the audience in the second and third movie is going to be very surprising.”
The Strangers: Chapter 1 hits theaters on May 17. For more, you can read our interview with producer Courtney Solomon and Renny Harlin right here.
