Welcome back to Horror Happenings, genre friends! Lots of fun casting news came out this week and a new scary shark movie is in the works at Sony. Check out the latest horror news below!
Stephen Dorff Joins Leatherface Cast
While I may have rolled my eyes a bit at the idea of a Leatherface prequel when the news of the feature film hit a few months ago, but now it would seem like the movie is shaping up to be a legit horror must-see. A lot of talent has been announced to fill out the cast and now Blade star Stephen Dorff has come aboard as the Texas ranger who has it out for Leatherface. Bloody Disgusting also reports that they got a bit of clarification on the plot, noting that the film “is presented as a mystery of sorts about three teenage psychopaths, one of whom grows up to be Leatherface.” This makes sense when you think about it since the two actors who have been announced are somewhat slight in build. I have a hard time imagining that they could fill the Leatherface apron but we’ll all see how it unfolds soon enough!
For more on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel, check out our piece Everything We Know About Leatherface!
Bruce Campbell To Play Ronald Reagan In Season Two of Fargo
When he’s not battling the Evil Dead during the next television season, Bruce Campbell will be portraying American president Ronald Reagan in the second season of the FX hit drama Fargo. TVLine reports that Campbell will play the actor-turned-politician before he became the Commander-In-Chief since the second season of Fargo will serve as a prequel to the first season of the series. Whole previewing season two earlier this year Jon Landgraf, FX CEO told journalists that their version of Reagan will see him, “[O]n his first campaign [and he] makes a swing through Fargo. Some of the characters have some interactions with him. And some of his movies are also a part of the show.â€
Louis Leterrier To Direct Black List Scary Shark Screenplay In The Deep
Much like the exorcism sub-genre of horror, I think it’s safe to say that it’s hard to make an effective shark movie in a post-Jaws world. Even almost forty-some-odd years later, most “killer shark” movies pale in its Great White shadow. There are a couple that have branched out to have their fun: Deep Blue Sea is a dumb, action-packed killer shark flick that I happen to find to be quite enjoyable and Open Water is a fairly successful, more psychological indie thriller. Nevertheless, the desire to pit humans against the prehistoric predators has yet to go away and Now You See Me and Transporter director Louis Letterier will wade through the treacherous cinematic waters as he is in talks to bring In The Deep to the big screen.
The script was written by Anthony Jaswinski and caused a bidding war between studios after appearing on The Black List with Sony eventually winning out. According to Deadline, the script tells the story of “a lone surfer attacked by a shark and stranded on a reef must find a way back to shore before succumbing to her injuries… [She] gets stranded 20 yards offshore on a buoy. What lies between her and the shore is a huge great white shark.”
I think the idea sounds great and am thrilled that the protagonist is scripted as a woman. I’m looking forward to seeing this one when it comes out, for sure.
