Urban Legend (film series)

Urban Legend
Created by	Silvio Horta
Original work	Urban Legend (1998)
Owners	TriStar Pictures Columbia Pictures Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Years	1998–2005
Films and television
Film(s)	Urban Legend (1998) Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
Direct-to-video	Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)

Urban Legend is an American horror media franchise owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and consisting of three slasher films. The first installment was written by Silvio Horta, directed by Jamie Blanks, and released in 1998.

Films

Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Producer(s)
Urban Legend	September 25, 1998 (1998-09-25)	Jamie Blanks	Silvio Horta	Gina Matthews, Neal H. Moritz & Michael McDonnell
Urban Legends: Final Cut	September 22, 2000 (2000-09-22)	John Ottman	Scott Derrickson & Paul Harris Boardman	Gina Matthews, Neal H. Moritz & Richard Luke Rothschild
Urban Legends: Bloody Mary	June 19, 2005 (2005-06-19)	Mary Lambert	Dan Harris & Michael Dougherty	Scott Messer, Aaron Merrell & Louis Phillips

Urban Legend (1998)

Main article: Urban Legend (film)

A college student suspects a series of bizarre deaths are connected to certain urban legends.

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)

Main article: Urban Legends: Final Cut

A film school is the center of a fresh spate of killings based on urban legends.

Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)

Main article: Urban Legends: Bloody Mary

On a prom-night dare, a trio of high school friends chant an incantation, unleashing an evil spirit from the past with deadly consequences.

Future

In February 2020, a reboot of the film was announced to be in development, to be written and directed by Colin Minihan. ^[1] In August, Sydney Chandler, Katherine McNamara and Keith Powers were cast in the film. ^[2] In October 2022, Minihan revealed that the film had been cancelled due to "bad timing". ^[3] In the following months, Eli Roth confirmed that it was due to the studio losing interest, ^[4] and McNamara reported that it was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[5]

In April 2025, it was announced that a new reboot was in development by Screen Gems, with Shanrah Wakefield writing the script. Gary Dauberman and Neal H. Moritz are set to produce, with the story aiming to be "an examination of what an urban legend looks like in a post-digital world." ^[6]

Cast and crew

Key

• A ^V indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character.
• An ^A indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills.
• A ^Y indicates the actor portrayed the role of a younger version of the character.
• A ^C indicates a cameo appearance.
• A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Principal cast

Characters	Films
	Urban Legend	Urban Legends: Final Cut	Urban Legends: Bloody Mary
	1998	2000	2005
Officer Reese Wilson	Loretta Devine
Brenda Bates	Rebecca Gayheart	Rebecca Gayheart C
Paul Gardner	Jared Leto
Natalie "Nash" Simon	Alicia Witt
Sasha Thomas	Tara Reid
Parker Riley	Michael Rosenbaum
Damon Brooks	Joshua Jackson
Dean Adams	John Neville
Prof. William Wexler	Robert Englund		Mentioned
Amy Mayfield		Jennifer Morrison	Jennifer Morrison A
Travis Stark Trevor Stark		Matthew Davis	Matthew Davis A
Graham Manning		Joseph Lawrence
Vanessa Valdeon		Eva Mendes
Sandra Petruzzi		Jessica Cauffiel
Toby Belcher		Anson Mount
Stan Washington		Anthony Anderson
Professor Solomon		Hart Bochner	Mentioned
Samantha "Sam" Owens			Kate Mara
David Owens			Robert Vito
Grace Taylor			Tina Lifford Charlene Baptista Y
Bill "Willy" Owens			Ed Marinaro Daniel B. Culmer Y
Mary Banner			Lillith Fields
Buck Jacoby			Michael Gregory Coe
Pamela "Pam" Owens			Nancy Everhard

Additional crew

Crew/Detail	Film
	Urban Legend	Urban Legends: Final Cut	Urban Legends: Bloody Mary
	1998	2000	2005
Composer(s)	Christopher Young	John Ottman	Jeff Rona
Cinematographer	James Chressanthis	Brian Pearson	Ian Fox
Editor	Jay Cassidy	Rob Kobrin John Ottman	Michelle Harrison
Production companies	Original Film Phoenix Pictures TriStar Pictures (US) Columbia Pictures (UK)	Original Film Phoenix Pictures Columbia Pictures	NPP Productions
Distributing company	Sony Pictures Releasing		Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Running time	100 minutes	98 minutes	93 minutes

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Budget	Reference
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide
Urban Legend	September 25, 1998	$38,072,438	$34,455,157	$72,527,595	$14 million	[7] [8]
Urban Legends: Final Cut	September 22, 2000	$21,468,807	$17,105,555	$38,574,362	$14 million	[9] [10]
Total		$59,541,245	$51,560,712	$111,101,957	$28,000,000

Critical and public response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Urban Legend	29% (66 reviews) [11]	35 (15 reviews) [12]	C [13]
Urban Legends: Final Cut	10% (86 reviews) [14]	16 (25 reviews) [15]	D+ [13]
Urban Legends: Bloody Mary	40% (5 reviews) [16]	—	—

References

1. Miska, Brad (February 10, 2020). "Screen Gems is Making a New 'Urban Legend' for the Digital Age". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved February 10, 2020.
2. Squires, John (August 24, 2020). "'Urban Legend': Casting Begins on Reboot from Screen Gems". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved August 24, 2020.
3. Lattila, Maria (October 31, 2022). "Urban Legend reboot cancelled, director cites bad timing and politics within studio as reasons". WhyNow. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
4. "Eli Roth". Post Mortem with Mick Garris. December 7, 2022. Event occurs at 42:57. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
5. Nemiroff, Perri (May 9, 2023). "Katherine McNamara Offers Update on the 'Urban Legend' Reboot". Collider . Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
6. Kit, Borys (April 24, 2025). "'Urban Legend' Reboot in the Works from Gary Dauberman, Neal Moritz (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
7. "Urban Legend". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved December 17, 2023.
8. "Urban Legend (1998) - Financial Information". The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
9. "Urban Legends: Final Cut". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved December 17, 2023.
10. "Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) - Financial Information". The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
11. "Urban Legend (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 9, 2023.
12. "Urban Legend (1998)". Metacritic . Retrieved October 26, 2020.
13. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.^{[ better source needed ]}
14. "Urban Legends: Final Cut". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
15. "Urban Legends: Final Cut". Metacritic. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
16. "Urban Legends: Bloody Mary". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 26, 2020.