THE STRANGERS 2 is a project we've been hearing about for a long time now, ever since the first film became a box office success in mid-2008. At one point, the sequel looked set to strike while the iron was hot, with production scheduled to begin in September of 2009, Laurent Briet directing from a screenplay (detailed here) by THE STRANGERS' writer/director Bryan Bertino. Obviously that didn't happen, and THE STRANGERS 2 has been languishing in development hell for a while.
Back in January, we heard that the sequel was being revived with a new director, Marcel Langenegger, and screenwriter Ben Ketai doing a fresh revision on the script. Almost a year later, we have an update: Relativity Studios, emerging from bankruptcy, has announced a December 2, 2016 theatrical release date for the sequel.
Also on Relativity's 2016 release schedule are the D.J. Caruso/Kate Beckinsale psychological thriller THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM (March 25), the Kate Bosworth/Thomas Jane horror film BEFORE I WAKE (April 8), the Halle Berry thriller KIDNAP (May 13), and the comedy MASTERMINDS (September 30). While several of them sound interesting to me, THE STRANGERS 2 is by far the one I most want to see.
Bertino's story for THE STRANGERS 2 centers on
a family on the verge of sending their troubled teenage daughter to boarding school as they embark on one last family trip to a mobile home park that their uncle runs. Their last bonding opportunity turns to horror when the teenage children discover the bodies of their aunt and uncle, fresh from a recent visit from the Strangers — Man in the Mask, Pin Up Girl and Dollface. The night becomes a race to escape for the family, as the masked killers take new pleasure in tormenting their victims in this twisted sequel that picks up where the original’s bloody footprints leave off.
I wanted to watch that scenario play out on the big screen back in 2010, but better late than never.
Gemma "Dollface" Ward