MGM casts newcomer Travis Tope for male lead in The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum's remake of THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN has just found its male lead in young newcomer Travis Tope, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Tope joins the previously announced Addison Timlin in the remake of the 1976 horror thriller which is being directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Timlin is set to play a young high schooler being raised by her grandmother who’s targeted by a mysterious killer. Tope will play a classmate who befriends Timlin’s character, and decides to make a documentary about the search for the killer.

The part is a coup for Tope, who auditioned via tape for a couple of Hollywood productions while based in Plano, Texas. Nothing took, but he was encouraged enough to move to Los Angeles. He was in town for a whole 10 days before he nabbed the Sundown part, beating out at least two other more established young actors, according to sources.

The film, which begins shooting in May, centers on…

a rural Texarkana town that was stalked by a serial killer in 1946. The maniac was never caught and in 2013, he comes back.

The original movie was based on five unsolved murders attributed to the Phantom Killer during three months in 1946 in and around the city of Texarkana on the border between Texas and Arkansas. Pierce shot large parts of the movie in and around Texarkana with extras recruited from local residents.

Look for more on THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN as it comes our way.