Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin to reboot cult classic horror The Strangers

Liv Tyler and Kip Weeks in The Strangers
(Image credit: Universal Studios)

Die Hard 2 and The Misfits director Renny Harlin has signed a three-picture deal with Lionsgate to reboot the 2008 cult classic horror film The Strangers.

Riverdale star Madelaine Petsch and Cruel Summer's Froy Gutierrez will play a young couple who embarks on a cross-country journey to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Oregon, they're forced to spend the night in an Airbnb where they are attacked and terrorized by three masked strangers.

Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman played the couple in the original film, who stay at a vacation home when three masked individuals break in. Directed and written by Bryan Bertino, the screenplay was based on the Tate-La Bianca murders carried out by the Manson family as well as a string of break-ins that occurred in Bertino's childhood neighborhood.

The movie is often thought to be a modern-day telling of the real-life 1979 Keddie cabin murders, in which Sue Sharp packed up her five children and headed west to start a new life post-separation from her husband. There, she and her family were terrorized and subsequently murdered by two unidentified men. The murders remain unsolved to this day.

Harlin, who has helmed other horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and Exorcist: The Beginning, is set to direct the first film in the new franchise from a screenplay by Alan R. Cohen and Freedland (Due Date, The Freak Brothers). Hillbilly Elegy's Gabriel Basso will also star. Filming has reportedly begun in Slovakia.

For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2022 and beyond.

Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

Read more
The ghost of a young woman standing in front of a red door during the Netflix horror series, The Haunting of Hill House.
New Shudder horror starring Haunting of Hill House and Riverdale stars sounds like the perfect mix of The Craft and Mallrats
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in Wednesday
Wednesday star Jenna Ortega and Escape Room's Taylor Russell in talks to lead reboot of beloved '90s thriller
Leatherface and Glen Powell
Glenn Powell could be taking a swing at a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Marvel star signs up to wild new horror movie from Longlegs producers that's told from the perspective of a dog
Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, Shawn Hatosy, Josh Hartnett, and Laura Harris in The Faculty (1998)
Almost 30 years on from the original, cult sci-fi horror The Faculty is getting a remake
Fede Alvarez at the UK Alien: Romulus premiere
Alien: Romulus and Evil Dead helmer says he wants to take on "a good old slasher" movie next
Latest in Horror Movies
Halloween director John Carpenter
15 years on from his last horror movie, Halloween's John Carpenter says he'd "love to direct again" – but he has one condition
Dan Stevens in supernatural horror The Ritual
The Godfather and Godzilla x Kong stars' new exorcism horror The Ritual gets a creepy first trailer
Saw X
Billy the Puppet gives Saw fans some hope on the future of the horror franchise by updating his LinkedIn profile to "employed"
Final Destination Bloodlines
Final Destination: Bloodlines drops new trailer with a first look at the return of the late Tony Todd to the horror franchise
Jack Reynor in Midsommar
Midsommar star cast in new Mummy movie, but still no word from the original stars
Kurt Russell in The Thing holding a stick of dynamite.
43 years later, John Carpenter has hinted at who turns into The Thing in the horror movie and one eagle-eyed fan has worked it out
Latest in News
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"
Fantastic Four: 1234 #2 cover excerpt
Sue Storm and Namor are officially both in Avengers: Doomsday, and fans are wondering if Reed Richards has something to worry about