There's a new entry in the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE franchise coming our way from Legendary Entertainment and EVIL DEAD / DON'T BREATHE director Fede Alvarez, who is producing the film through his company Bad Hombre. Yesterday we shared the surprising news that not only had the film managed to sneak into production without anyone noticing, but also that the first week of footage was being scrapped and directors Andy and Ryan Tohill are being replaced by David Blue Garcia due to "creative differences"… and at the bottom of the Deadline report on the situation, they also dropped in some casting news.
Thanks to Deadline, we know the names of four actors who have signed on to be (potentially) slaughtered in this CHAINSAW MASSACRE. They are: Elsie Fisher, who caught a lot of attention for her role in the film EIGHTH GRADE, and played Joy Wilkes on the Stephen King series Castle Rock; Sarah Yarkin, who genre fans may know from HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U and Motherland: Fort Salem; Jacob Latimore of VANISHING ON 7TH STREET, THE MAZE RUNNER, and the Showtime series The Chi; and Moe Dunford of Vikings. Dunford also starred in the Tohills' movie THE DIG.
I don't have much of an opinion on the directors, I haven't seen THE DIG or Garcia's movie TEJANO, but I do feel sorry for the Tohills. Getting to direct a movie in a franchise like CHAINSAW is a big deal, and it has to be crushing to lose that job after a week of filming. That said, I do think it's beneficial to have a Texas-based filmmaker like Garcia at the helm, since the movie is being shot in Bulgaria.
Scripted by Chris Thomas Devlin, this sequel is said to pick up where the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (watch it HERE) left off and is meant to
bring Leatherface back to terrifying life for a new generation.
Original CHAINSAW co-writer Kim Henkel (who also wrote and directed TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION) is producing the film with Ian Henkel and Pat Cassidy through their company Exurbia Films. Rodolfo Sayagues is producing with Alvarez through Bad Hombre.