The Strangers: Chapter 1 | |
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Directed by | Renny Harlin |
Screenplay by |
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Story by |
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Based on | The Strangers by Bryan Bertino |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | José David Montero |
Edited by | Michelle Harrison |
Music by |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release dates |
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Running time | 91 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $8.5 million [2] |
Box office | $28.2 million [3] [4] |
The Strangers: Chapter 1 is a 2024 American horror film that is the third film in The Strangers film series and the first installment of an intended relaunch in the form of a standalone trilogy; [lower-alpha 1] It is directed by Renny Harlin, with a screenplay by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, from a story by Bryan Bertino, the director of the first film. Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez star as a couple who come into contact with the three psychopathic masked strangers while on a road trip. Gabriel Basso and Ema Horvath also star.
Plans for a consecutively-shot trilogy of Strangers films was announced in August 2022 by the original film's producer, Roy Lee. Harlin was announced as the director of all three the following month, with most of the cast joining soon after. Production on the films took place in Bratislava between September and November that year, often alternating daily between which of the three Chapters was being shot.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 had its world premiere at Regal L.A. Live on May 8, 2024, and was theatrically released by Lionsgate Films on May 17, 2024. The film has grossed $27 million worldwide and was deemed inferior to the previous films by critics. Chapter 2 is expected to be released later in 2024, and Chapter 3 on an unspecified date.
Maya and her boyfriend Ryan drive across the country, celebrating their fifth year anniversary. Lost, they stop in a small town called Venus. The locals disturb them and their car breaks down. The town’s mechanic, Rudy, agrees to fix their car the next morning and they are forced to stay the night in an Airbnb.
A girl appears at the door after aggressive repeated knocking, asking if Tamara is here, to which the couple responds no. Ryan goes back into town with a motorcycle to retrieve his inhaler, which he left behind in the car. Alone, Maya is unaware of Scarecrow silently stalking her. The power shuts off and Dollface's sudden appearance leads her to hide. Ryan returns, deeming it a ruse. The couple later notices blood dripping above from a dead chicken hanging on the chandelier. They are attacked by Scarecrow, who pauses his pursuit and leaves the house.
The couple flees outside to escape with the motorcycle but it is blown up by Scarecrow. Using the home’s crawlspace, they narrowly avoid being found as Maya accidentally strikes her hand on a nail. Once they make it to the shed, Ryan finds a shotgun and rescues Maya from another attack.
Ryan mistakenly shoots the Airbnb's owner, killing him. They attempt to escape with his vehicle, but get T-boned by Scarecrow's truck. Maya runs into the woods but Ryan is unable to move as his leg is stuck. Maya calls 911 but the call fails due to a lack of service. She comes across a corpse, is discovered by Dollface, and knocked out. Ryan holds Pin-Up Girl at gunpoint, demanding Maya's whereabouts but Scarecrow knocks him out too.
Both wake up tied to chairs in the house. In their last moments, Ryan offers to marry Maya, which she accepts. He is fatally stabbed and his chair is knocked over, causing him to choke on his own blood. Maya asks why they're doing this, to which they simply reply, "Because you're here." She is then stabbed and knocked over as well. Police sirens are heard in the distance and the perpetrators speed away. Maya awakes in a hospital bed, having survived. She rises from the bed and doesn’t notice Scarecrow lying next to her.
In August 2022, producer Roy Lee announced plans for three films to consecutively enter production beginning in September of the same year. [6] Renny Harlin was revealed as director for at least one of the films, though he was in negotiations to direct each of the films. [7] The trilogy was produced by Lionsgate Films, Fifth Element Productions, and Frame Film, and will be distributed by Lionsgate. [8] [9]
Later in 2022, Harlin was announced as director on the three upcoming films. The first of the new trilogy was from a script written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland and story by Bryan Bertino. [8] [10] Courtney Solomon, Mark Canton, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin, Charlie Dombeck, and Alastair Birlingham were confirmed as producers on the three films. [8] The new trilogy is a relaunch of the series with producer Canton stating that the trilogy is intended to introduce new audiences to "world of The Strangers". Solomon stated that when they began the project the intent was to tell a bigger story than before, but also to "expand that world". [8] The producer describes the three films as a "character study", compared to the previous two films. It was later clarified by the filmmaker and the actors, that the new trilogy of films takes place in the same universe as the original two films. [11] [12]
In September 2022, Madelaine Petsch, Froy Gutierrez and Gabriel Basso were cast. [13] In October 2022, Ema Horvath was announced to be a part of the cast. [14] The following month, Rachel Shenton joined the cast. [15]
Principal photography on all three films took place in Bratislava, Slovakia over 52 days from September 2022 to November 2022. [13] [16] [17] Harlin told Entertainment Weekly that it was "the challenge of a lifetime, but I also really embraced it. On a Monday morning, I could be shooting the second chapter, and Monday afternoon I could be shooting the first chapter, and Tuesday morning I could be shooting the third chapter. it was incredibly demanding for the actors, for the continuity in terms of the make-up and wardrobe, and for my director of photography, because we wanted to create a visual language that develops so that the movies get bigger, more epic, as we go [on]. It just kept all of our juices pumping all the time". [18]
Lionsgate hosted the world premiere at Regal L.A. Live on May 8, 2024. [19] It was released in theaters on May 17, 2024. [12]
As of May 30,2024 [update] , The Strangers: Chapter 1 has grossed $24.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $3.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $28.2 million. [3] [4]
In the United States and Canada, Chapter 1 was released alongside IF and Back to Black , and was projected to gross $7–9 million from 2,856 theaters in its opening weekend. [2] After making $5 million on its first day (including $1.2 million from Thursday night previews), the film went on to debut to $12 million, slightly over-performing and finishing in third behind IF and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes . [20]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 22% of 87 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.3/10.The website's consensus reads: "Lacking the chilling suspense of the original The Strangers and proving to be just unpleasant, Chapter 1 closes the book on itself." [21] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 43 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, the same as Prey at Night , while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 50% overall positive score. [20]
Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times said "The first Strangers movie had an air of creepy suspense, as the besieged couple often looked off into blank space, bringing an unnerving tension to what was often nothing. The new film never conjures the same feelings of rustic menace". [23] Michael Nordine of Variety wrote "It's also off to a promising enough start, especially as the end of Chapter 1 makes it clear that the next two entries will be continuations of the story introduced here rather than standalone narratives" and that "Time will tell, but for now there's enough reason for devotees of the series to be cautiously optimistic — and even a little curious — about the next two chapters". [24]
Two sequels were filmed concurrently with Chapter 1, with Chapter 2 expected to be released in late 2024. [25] Harlin stated they were intended to be neither a remake nor reboot, and that the tone was going to be close to the first film. [26] Harlin said in an interview: "We, of course, shot them on top of each other and mixed up, like movies are always made. But we had to keep in mind that this is one story arc. It is one 4.5 hour movie, and the first movie is a first act. It sets up the characters and the terror and the Killers and our main character, who will survive the first movie, but then go on a journey for the next two". [25]
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , Harlin stated Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 will go in different directions. The sequels will cover Petsch's character over a span of four days after her encounter. [16]
The one thing that seems to register confusion amongst the OG The Strangers fans is that we remade the movie, or that it's a prequel. Not really.
When asked if the new movie, which he describes as not really a reboot nor a remake, would reference the other two The Strangers movies, Harlin replied: 'Definitely.' ... He adds: 'I have to say that the original Strangers is one of my favorite horror films ever. ...For me, it was very important to give the fans of the original film, give them the same experience. Obviously, the movie is not a carbon copy in any way, but it definitely has a similar story...I, as a fan of the original film, I wanted something that feels familiar, feels, truthful to the original. And then we obviously, we made a second movie and a third movie at the same time because we wanted to explore uh the reasons behind this. I feel like myself, and I'm sure a lot of the people who love the love, the original film were asking the question, like, why did this happen? And who were these people? And where did they come from and where are they going next? And that's the kind of answers that I wanted to explore in the second and the third movie'...
Is Renny Harlin's The Strangers remake trilogy actually a sequel trilogy? Cast member Ema Horvath implies it might be ... Well, the official announcement referred to this as a remake project, anyway. But that might not actually be the case. During a recent interview with CinemaChords' Howard Gorman, cast member Ema Horvath said the trilogy is set "in the same universe" as The Strangers and its follow-up The Strangers: Prey at Night.
Renny Harlin is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has worked in Hollywood, Europe, and China. His best-known films include A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Deep Blue Sea.
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The Strangers is a 2008 American psychological horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino. The film follows a couple whose stay at a vacation home is disrupted by three masked intruders who infiltrate the home one night. It is the first installment in The Strangers film series. The screenplay was inspired by two real-life events: the multiple-homicide Manson family Tate murders and a series of break-ins that occurred in Bertino's neighborhood as a child. Some journalists noted similarities between the film and the Keddie cabin murders that occurred in Keddie, California, in 1981, though Bertino did not cite this as a reference.
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The Strangers: Prey at Night is a 2018 slasher film directed by Johannes Roberts and written by Bryan Bertino and Ben Ketai. It is the sequel to The Strangers (2008) and the second installment of The Strangers film series. The film stars Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, and Lewis Pullman as a family vacationing at a secluded mobile home park, where they are attacked by three masked strangers.
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The Strangers film series consists of American psychological horror films. Based on an original story by Bryan Bertino, the plot centers around three masked psycho-sociopathic home invaders that prey on the innocent owners. Though the first film was marketed as "based on a true story", this was a slight misdirect as the filmmaker stated that he wrote the concept from a series of break-in burglaries that took place in his neighborhood when he was growing up, as well as borrowing elements from the Manson Family Tate murders. Continuing this marketing technique, a "based on a true story" tag was also included at the beginning of the sequels.
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The Strangers: Chapter 2 is an upcoming American horror film directed by Renny Harlin, and written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. It stars Madelaine Petsch and is the fourth film in The Strangers film series. It is the second installment of a new trilogy of films, and the direct sequel to The Strangers: Chapter 1.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 is an upcoming American horror film directed by Renny Harlin, and written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. It stars Madelaine Petsch and is the fifth film in The Strangers film series. It is the final installment of a new trilogy of films, and the direct sequel to The Strangers: Chapter 2, with the plot centering around a couple who come into contact with the three psychopathic masked strangers and the aftermath.