The Strangers remake: Ema Horvath joins Madelaine Petsch in Renny Harlin film

Four weeks ago, it was officially announced that Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) is directing not only a remake of the 2008 film The Strangers, but an entire remake trilogy. The first installment in that trilogy is currently filming in Slovakia, with Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) in the lead role… and Deadline reports that Petsch is joined in the cast by Ema Horvath.

Horvath may be best known for playing Eärien in the Amazon series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but she has mainly worked in the horror genre up to this point. Her previous credits include Like.Share.Follow., The Gallows Act II, The Mortuary Collection, and What Lies Below.

Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer) and Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy) are also in the cast of The Strangers remake. Written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, the first entry in the remake trilogy centers on

Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. Lionsgate plans from there to expanding the story in new and unexpected ways with its sequels.

The Strangers remake trilogy is being produced by Courtney Solomon, Mark Canton, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin, Charlie Dombeck, and Alastair Birlingham. Andrei Boncea, Dorothy Canton, and Roy Lee serve as executive producers. Rafaella Biscayn, Frame Film SK, Johanna Harlin, Juan Garcia Peredo, and Alberto Burgueno are co-producing.

Harlin provided the following statement when the trilogy announcement was made: “My mother instilled the love of movies in me through the world of Hitchcock and other masters of suspense and horror. My breakthrough to Hollywood happened with the success of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. It is only fitting that I get to return to my favorite genre with the incredibly well written trilogy of The Strangers. The characters and the storyline are all grounded in reality and offer me an endless tapestry of haunting visuals in bringing these movies alive.“

Are you looking forward to The Strangers remake trilogy? What do you think of Ema Horvath joining the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.