We sit down with producer Courtney Solomon & Director Renny Harlin as we chat about their up coming The Strangers Trilogy franchise reboot @ NYCC 2023 #TheStrangersTrilogy @StrangersTrlgy
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. Written by Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland. Directed by Renny Harlin.
Criticólogos:
How does this differentiate itself from what we already saw from what’s out there?
Courtney Solomon:
So this is a much larger story, but we, in order to tell it, went back to the original. So we rebooted the original. Wouldn’t say it’s a remake, but you’ll see a lot of similarities from the original, you know, in the original and then our take on it. But it’s set up story wise differently. And then when it ends, the, you know, we call it chapter two and chapter three, the next chapter literally begins at the very next scene. So now you get to see the story continue, and it evolves into a whole other place, which is truly shocking and amazing.
Renny Harlin:
Well, we were huge fans of the original film. So for us, it’s a huge honor and also a responsibility with the fans to, to give, give them what we think they would like to see. And the new generation who even isn’t familiar with the original. So like Courtney said, the first movie is a reboot done away but faithful to the atmosphere of the original movie. And then the second and third chapter, instead of saying, let’s just make a sequel and take the strangers to the airport or some other place. This is an exploration of our main character, played by Madelaine Petsch, and her journey, and also a journey of discovering what is behind the strangers. Who are they really?
Criticólogos:
This is for the new generation, new people to fall in love with it, the new people to get captivated with it. And we see that in the cast. It’s a great cast of young actors, great actors. How did that come about?
Courtney Solomon:
Fresh faces that we remember. Well, it was really, you know, Madeleine the entire giant movie. And we look at it as one big movie, you know, follows her character. And so that was super important because it’s an extremely challenging role. There’s a lot to remember when you’re shooting three films at the same time. You’re moving from one to 3 to 2 to 3 to 1 during the course of a same day, multiple times during the course of a week. Renny and I, you know, we’re looking for the exact, you know, perfect person that could actually pull this off and had the talent and the intelligence, you know, and was accessible because she needed to be accessible to an audience.
We searched far and wide, and when we finally got on a zoom with her, within five minutes of really her interviewing us, as we like to say, which blew us away but was amazing. And her 21 pages and notes that she had for the interview. We just looked at each other and we were like, that’s our person we’re in.
Renny Harlin:
And then once we were shooting the movie, we felt like we had won the lottery because we realized that the way she was going to carry these, these movies and felt like we couldn’t imagine any other actor doing what she was doing. And she really became our partner in crime. And the movie kind of started telling us how it needs to be told more. We shot more scenes. The emphasis on absolute reality and honesty became crystal clear to us.
And that way also, the movie script kept changing as we were shooting it, and the biggest change was the ending of the third movie and the ending of this, this journey, which which we completely rewrote and recreated because we after after getting to know these characters so well, there was no question there was only one way to end it, which was totally different from what the screenwriters had thought originally. And it also leaves open another set of questions like the original film did. And at least my secret hope is that we make at least three more of these and explore much further of what we set up in these films.
Criticólogos:
We at New York Comic-Con already had a preview of it. People got to see some of it. But what can you say that people can expect?
Courtney Solomon:
I think what people can expect from it is a, you know, journey of a character, what we call this character driven horror. So I think they can expect to be. I’m going on a journey in a much more connected and deeper way than they traditionally do in the horror genre. For something like this, they still are going to be in the milieu, they’re still going to be scared. And what is happening itself to that character and what that character is doing, and how that character is evolving.
On both the protagonist and antagonist side, I think is unique, and it’s going to draw them in even further, because they’re going to be going on that journey with them and not believing the level of I’m not not believing it, but, you know, sort of shocked by the level of true horror that these characters are going through the darkness they live in.
Renny Harlin:
And, and I think that the fans can expect the same kind of feeling of terrible dread that they felt in the original film that carries through all the three films. It’s almost as if somebody was sitting on your chest while you’re watching these movies. And I suggest to whether you’re a fan or you’re new to this whole franchise, I suggest don’t go alone to see these movies. You’re going to need somebody’s hand to hold on to.
