Vicious: Devyn Nekoda, Mary McCormack, Rachel Blanchard & more join Dakota Fanning in horror film

Dakota Fanning and The Strangers director Bryan Bertino are teaming up for a horror movie called Vicious, which is coming our way from Paramount Pictures, and Deadline reports that Fanning is being joined in the cast by Devyn Nekoda (Scream VI), Mary McCormack (The West Wing), Rachel Blanchard (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Kathryn Hunter (Poor Things), Klea Scott (Millennium), and Emily Mitchell (Ordinary Angels). The film is heading toward an August 8, 2025 theatrical release.

Scripted by Bertino, Vicious sees Fanning taking on the role of a young woman who is left a strange present by a late-night visitor, and quickly realizes she is fighting for her life after slipping down a disturbing rabbit hole contained inside the gift.

An Atlas Independent production, the film is being produced by Richard Suckle, with Melinda Whitaker serving as executive producer.

Bertino made his feature directorial debut with the 2008 horror film The Strangers and has since followed that up with three more horror films: 2014’s Mockingbird, which he co-wrote with Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, 2016’s The Monster, and 2020’s The Dark and the Wicked. He also wrote the initial screenplay for The Strangers: Prey at Night, which got a rewrite from Ben Ketai and ended up being directed by Johannes Roberts.

While Bertino focuses on Vicious, the Strangers franchise is continuing on without him. Director Renny Harlin recently shot an entire trilogy of Strangers movies at the same time, with Lionsgate planning to give The Strangers: Chapter 1 a May 17th theatrical release. We’ve heard they’ll also be releasing The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3 by the end of the year. Harlin has said The Strangers: Chapter 1 “is close to the original movie in its set-up of a young couple in an isolated environment in a house and a home invasion happening for random reasons.” Then Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 “explore what happens to the victims of this kind of violence and who the perpetrators are of this kind of violence. Where are they coming from and why?“

Are you interested in Bryan Bertino’s Vicious? What do you think of the cast that has been assembled for the film? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.