Blumhouse's Fantasy Island adds Michael Rooker

Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island adds Michael Rooker

January 18th 2019, 4:20pm

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

Michael Rooker is a name that I think most people in the world know thanks to writer-director James Gunn and his GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movies. But all of us genre fans have known and loved Rooker for decades now. After all, the man has starred in such horror classics as SLiTHER, THE DARK HALF, and let's not forget the role that should have earned the man an Oscar, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER.

And it looks like the man has just scored another high-profile movie in the form of Blumhouse's upcoming FANTASY ISLAND. Plot details have not been released for the film but we do know the movie will be putting a horror spin on the plot of the popular ABC series in this adaptation. All the same, here is the plot rundown for the original series:

At a luxurious but remote tropical island resort, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke somehow makes the secret dreams of his well-heeled guests come true, although twists of fate occasionally turn those dreams into nightmares. He is assisted by Tattoo, a little person who could be trusted to sing out, "Da plane! Da plane!" as each group of guests arrived. In the final season of the series, Roarke is joined by Lawrence, a dapper Englishman. As a sort of anthology series, the show featured new guest stars each week, and many big names of the era made a trip onto "Fantasy Island."

Rooker joins a cast that already includes the likes of Michael Pena as Mr. Roarke (the role originally played by Ricardo Montalban), along with Lucy Hale (TRUTH OR DARE), Maggie Q (LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD), Portia Doubleday (CARRIE), Jimmy O. Yang (THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS), Ryan Hansen (FRIDAY THE 13TH 2009), Charlotte McKinney (FLATLINERS, BAYWATCH), Parisa Fitz-Henley (LUKE CAGE, JESSICA JONES), and Austin Stowell (CATCH 22, BATTLE OF THE SEXES).

The film is directed by Jeff Wadlow (TRUTH OR DARE) from a screenplay he co-wrote with TRUTH OR DARE scribes Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach. Jason Blum is producing, while Wadlow will serve as executive producer with Blumhouse’s Couper Samuelson and Jeanette Volturno. The Sony Pictures/ Blumhouse film is set to begin production next week in Fiji and is shooting for a release on February 28, 2020.