Based on the original 2008 horror film, Renny Harlin’s The Strangers: Chapter 1 hit theaters on May 17, kicking off a new trilogy of terror.
Director Renny Harlin has already filmed Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, with the former expected to release sometime in fall 2024. While a date hasn’t been specified, we can probably expect to see it sometime in September or October. As for Chapter 3, it is difficult to comment on when the movie will come out.
The new trilogy is based on the 2008 film The Strangers. Written and directed by Bryan Bertino, the movie stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a couple terrorized by a trio of masked strangers. It was followed by a 2018 sequel titled Strangers: Prey at Night, featuring Christina Hendricks and Martin Henderson in leading roles, with Johannes Roberts replacing Bertino as director.
The first part of the reboot trilogy follows a similar premise as the original—a couple staying in a cabin are terrorized by three masked strangers who attack them without establishing any motives. Froy Gutierrez and Madelaine Petsch play the couple Ryan and Maya, while Rachel Shenton, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, and Richard Brake appear in supporting roles.
The idea for the trilogy came to life in August 2022, when producer Roy Lee revealed his plans for three films to be shot concurrently, with Harlin directing from a script by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 holds a 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 73 reviews, with an audience score of 43%. It was released in the US alongside the live-action animated comedy IF and the controversial Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, achieving the highest opening weekend for a horror film this year.
