Home Movie News ‘The Strangers’ Remake: Madelaine Petsch Promises More Backstory in the New Trilogy

Petsch makes her case for remaking the wildly effective iconic horror movie.

I love The Strangers. It’s one of my favorite horror movies of all time. It’s a no-frills, extremely well-executed story that’s guaranteed to haunt your dreams courtesy of the killers’ motivation; “because you were home.” Why remake a genre classic that thrives off such simple, chilling storytelling?

Johannes Roberts’ The Strangers sequel, 2018’s The Strangers: Prey at Night, wound up being a solid follow-up courtesy of strong performances and some unforgettable set pieces, namely the pool scene, but it does feel more like a slasher genre homage than a continuation of what Bryan Bertino started in 2008. Yet again, this begs the question, why attempt to do The Strangers again?

That was one of my biggest burning questions for Madelaine Petsch on a recent episode of Collider Ladies Night. Petsch is headlining not just a single The Strangers remake, but a remake trilogy directed by Renny Harlin. The first film of the trilogy will reportedly see Petsch’s character on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend (Froy Gutierrez). Their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon so they get an Airbnb and that’s where they encounter the titular masked murderers.

Image via Universal Pictures

Here’s what Petsch said when asked what she’d tell diehard The Strangers fans who are skeptical of the potential of this upcoming remake:

“I’d like to first tell that person that I too feel that way about the original Strangers. When I got sent the trilogy of scripts, I said, ‘This feels like a behemoth that maybe shouldn’t be touched.’ I really felt that way as well and I was very resistant to the idea. And then I clicked on the first script and it all made sense to me. You’re getting so much more backstory. You’re getting so much more character development. I think my biggest pet peeve with the old one now is that you’re not really emotionally invested in those characters. So, yes, it’s terrifying, but you don’t know why they’re fighting originally. You don’t know what their relationship is. They’re kind of already at odds with each other, and so there’s not a lot of investment into Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman. You’re just terrified for them and with them, and so I think we built a world that delves into it more. It’s not exactly a remake because it’s different characters, but it’s the same concept and idea, and I think people will feel like it’s an homage. They’re gonna feel like we handled the material with care and I think [they’re gonna feel] like we’ve dove deeper into it. So if anything, it should make Strangers OG fans really excited because you get more answers, you get more mystery and you get more scares, which is why we watch them.”

It was been previously reported that all three of these new Strangers films had wrapped production by November 1, 2022, but Lionsgate has yet to set release dates for the films. While we wait for more updates, be sure to check out Petsch’s episode of Collider Ladies Night below: