Sequel to ‘Strangers’ Brings Back Original Writer

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 28th, 2008

Surprise profits and an open-ended final scene made a sequel to The Strangers inevitable. There was confirmation today from the trades that the original’s writer/director, Bryan Bertino, has been hired to type up another scary script.

The first movie, released this past June, made $54 million domestically on a $9 million budget.

Bertino will write the next installment, but he hasn’t been hired to direct it yet.

In my review of the original I wrote “Bertino shows a lot of talent as a director. As a writer… not so much.” The simple, plot-filled script was the worst part of the movie, in my opinion. Liv Tyler wasn’t particularly good either.

But Rogue Pictures took a look at their return on invest and thought they were good enough.

The Variety article says they’re planning on a possible franchise, like the Scream movies. It’s an odd comparison considering those movies are about poking fun at horror cliches while The Strangers used just about all of them.

Liv Tyler and the masked villains are expected to return for the production, planned for early 2009.