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92-595: Bryan Michael Bertino (born October 17, 1977) is an American filmmaker. He is best known as the writer/director of The Strangers (2008), as well as writing its sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018), with Ben Ketai . Bertino was born in Crowley, Texas . He studied cinematography at the University of Texas at Austin . He then moved to Los Angeles , where he worked as a gaffer , and wrote screenplays in his spare time. Bertino submitted The Strangers for

184-556: A cult film . A sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night , was released in March 2018, followed by a standalone sequel trilogy of Strangers films, with the first, subtitled Chapter 1 , released in May 2024. James Hoyt and Kristen McKay arrive at James' isolated childhood summer home after attending a wedding. The couple is distraught after Kristen turned down James’ marriage proposal. James calls his friend Mike and asks to pick him up in

276-454: A Nicholl Fellowship with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , which reached the quarterfinals. However, he was able to get a meeting with Vertigo Entertainment . Bertino quit his job days before the script was sold to Universal Studios . Mark Romanek wanted to direct The Strangers but demanded a $ 40 million budget. After speaking with Andrew Rona at Rogue Pictures , Bertino

368-413: A built-in audience and reducing the financial risk associated with launching a new and unproven concept . Additionally, sequels of a formula that players already enjoy, balancing familiarity with new features or improvements, which can increase player retention and positive reception . In some cases, the characters or the settings of an original film or video game become so valuable that they develop into

460-424: A couple terrorized by strangers in their remote home. Bertino entered the screenplay for The Strangers into a screenwriting contest, after which he sold its directorial rights to Universal Pictures. When casting the two leading actors in the film, Bertino sought Liv Tyler for the role of Kristen. Tyler, who had not worked for several years after the birth of her son, accepted the part after being impressed by

552-580: A crossover film. A reboot is a start over from a previous work. It could either be a film set in a new universe resembling the old one or it could be a regular spin-off film that starts a new film series. Reboots are usually a part of the same media franchise as the previous works, but not always. Batman Begins , Casino Royale , Star Trek , Børning , Man of Steel , and Terminator: Genisys are examples of reboot films. Kathleen Loock has written that traditional reboots tended to stray away from depicting direct narrative or stylistic correlations to

644-465: A dependable business strategy. Sequels are now a dominant trend in the industry, making up a large proportion of new releases from major publishers . One reason seso prevalent is their ability to provide a stable revenue stream in a volatile market. Building on an existing brand with an established fan base, sequels are perceived as safer investments than new intellectual properties (IP). They allow companies to capitalize on previous successes, ensuring

736-504: A different perspective. Strict legacy parallels are Kirill Eskov 's novel The Last Ringbearer (1999) retelling the events of J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings (1955) from the viewpoint of benevolent Mordorians combatting the malevolent West. Likewise, Alice Randall 's novel The Wind Done Gone (2001), contemporary to Margaret Mitchell 's Gone With the Wind (1936), tells

828-548: A making-of featurette. The DVD was released in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2008. The film was available on Universal VOD ( Video on Demand ) from November 19, 2008, through March 31, 2009. In commemoration of the film's 10th anniversary, a two-disc collector's edition Blu-ray by Scream Factory was released on March 6, 2018, featuring a 2K video transfer , as well as a combination of new and archival cast and crew interviews. A region B limited edition Blu-ray

920-592: A pair of heroes who fought like hell to survive, becoming closer and stronger in the effort. Bertino's undeveloped protagonists are colossally stupid and frustratingly passive." Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post panned the film, calling it "a fraud from start to finish." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle , said the film "uses cinema to ends that are objectionable and vile," but admitted that "it does it well, with more than usual skill." Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe said of

1012-456: A requel as something that "exploits goodwill toward the past while launching a new generation of actors and stories". A standalone sequel is a work set in the same universe, yet has little or no narrative connection to its predecessor, and can stand on its own without a thorough understanding of the series. A Shot in the Dark (1964), Big Top Pee-wee (1988), Halloween III: Season of

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1104-666: A satirical romance), for example, Cervantes disapproved of Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda 's use of his characters in Second Volume of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha , an unauthorized sequel. In response, Cervantes very firmly kills the protagonist at the end of the Second Part to discourage any more such creative liberties. Another example is Samuel Richardson , an 18th-century author who responded particularly strongly against

1196-443: A series, lately referred to as a media franchise . Generally, a whole series of sequels is made, along with merchandising . Multiple sequels are often planned well in advance, and actors and directors may sign extended contracts to ensure their participation. This can extend into a series/franchise's initial production's plot to provide story material to develop for sequels called sequel hooks. Examples of major media franchises include

1288-457: A story of what it was like in the house with the victims. But none of the victims knew about the Manson family or why it was happening to them. So, I got really fascinated with telling the victims' tale. And not filling it in with an FBI profile and not filling it in with finding out that somebody's grandmother beat them and now they want to kill everybody. You read obituaries every day where someone

1380-447: A work he or she could sell. This shift from a text-based to an author-centered reading culture led to the "professionalization" of the author – that is, the development of a "sense of identity based on a marketable skill and on supplying to a defined public a specialized service it was demanding." In one sense, then, sequels became a means to profit further from previous work that had already obtained some measure of commercial success. As

1472-538: Is Mute (2018), a spiritual sequel to the film Moon (2009). A parallel , paraquel , or sidequel is a story that runs at the same point in time as the original story. For instance, three different novels by John Morressy — Starbrat (1972), Stardrift (1973; also known as Nail Down the Stars ), and Under a Calculating Star (1975) — involve different lead characters, mostly in different places, but overlap at one dramatic event to which each novel provides

1564-465: Is a 2008 American psychological horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino . The film follows a couple (portrayed by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman ) whose stay at a vacation home is disrupted by three masked intruders (portrayed by Kip Weeks, Gemma Ward , and Laura Margolis ) who infiltrate the home one night. It is the first installment in The Strangers film series . The screenplay

1656-516: Is an interquel of 'movies A' and 'B', the events of 'movie C' take place after the events of 'movie A', but before the events of 'movie B'. Examples can include Rogue One (2016) and Solo (2018) of Star Wars , some films of the Fast & Furious franchise, and Saw X . An intraquel , on the other hand, is a work which focuses on events within a previous work. Examples include Bambi 2 (2005) and Black Widow (2021). A threequel

1748-517: Is killed for a random reason. Yes, we may eventually find out why, but sometimes they don't. Bryan Bertino, on his inspiration for the film. Writer-director Bryan Bertino wrote the screenplay which was originally titled The Faces ; it was the third screenplay he had ever written. Bertino had a particular interest in the horror genre, noting how one can connect to an audience by scaring them, and would state in subsequent interviews that he grew up watching horror films. In particular, he stated he

1840-417: Is made following the original product which portrays events occurring chronologically before those of the original work. Although its name is based on the word sequel , not all prequels are true prequels that are part of a main series. Prequels that are not part of a main series are called spin-off prequels , while prequels that are part of a main series are called true prequels . Examples of prequels include

1932-531: Is often a forerunner to being killed by the killer(s); [here], death is random and unrelated to one's behavior." In The Horror Show Guide: The Ultimate Frightfest of Movies , Mike Mayo noted the film's "grim realism," writing that the main characters "could have wandered out of a gloomy Ingmar Bergman film," ultimately branding the film as an example of "naturalistic domestic horror" akin to Michael Haneke 's Funny Games . The film has also been noted by scholar Philip Simpson as highlighting "the divide between

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2024-472: Is the third work after the first sequel. They act as a continuation, and sometimes a conclusion of plot threads from the first two works. Examples include Return of the Jedi (1983), and Rocky III (1982). A legacy sequel is a work that follows the continuity of the original works, but takes place much further along the timeline, often focusing on new characters with the original ones still present in

2116-837: The Creed films (2015-present), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), The Matrix Resurrections (2021), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) , and the Jurassic World Trilogy (2015–2022) are examples of legacy sequels. Another term for these types of movies is requel , meaning reboot sequel, a term originally coined by Bruce Campbell to describe Evil Dead 2 (1987) in relation to The Evil Dead (1981). Film journalist Pamela McClintock describes

2208-496: The Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999-2005), Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004) which took place chronologically before the events of the previous Tremors films , Better Call Saul (2015–2022) taking place mainly before Breaking Bad but also having some scenes after and during it, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008) occurring chronologically before the events of The Little Mermaid TV series (1992-1994),

2300-696: The Marvel Cinematic Universe , Pokemon , Harry Potter , and Disney Princess . Movie sequels do not always do as well at the box office as the original, but they tend to do better than non-sequels, according to a study in the July 2008 issue of the Journal of Business Research . The shorter the period between releases, the better the sequel does at the box office. Sequels also show a faster drop in weekly revenues relative to non-sequels. A quantitative mega-analysis of box office earnings from all

2392-619: The '70s", and ultimately summarized it as "an effective, scary emotional work-out." Slant Magazine ' s Nick Schager listed The Strangers as the 9th best film of 2008. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released The Strangers on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on October 21, 2008. Both the Blu-ray and DVD feature rated and unrated versions of the film, with the unrated edition running approximately two minutes longer; bonus materials include two deleted scenes and

2484-429: The 18th century novel. While in certain historical contexts unofficial sequels were actually the norm (for an example, see Arthurian literature ), with the emphasis on the author function that arises in conjunction with the novel many authors began to see these kinds of unauthorized extensions as being in direct conflict with authorial authority. In the matter of Don Quixote (an early novel, perhaps better classified as

2576-481: The 18th century sequels often served as "models of paternity and property", for women writers these models were more likely to be seen as transgressive. Instead, the recurring readership created by sequels let female writers function within the model of "familiar acquaintances reunited to enjoy the mutual pleasures of conversation", and made their writing an "activity within a private, non-economic sphere". Through this created perception women writers were able to break into

2668-580: The Pin-Up Girl, Tyler specifically requested that she not see her mask prior to filming: "I got strict instructions not to let Liv see me in my mask before we shot," Margolis recalled. "The first scene that I shot was stalking [her] outside of the barn. I had been told that she really wanted to be scared. She didn't want to have to fake it, and so it was my responsibility to really scare her. So we shot that scene, I ran at her, she started actually screaming, and then she kicked me away." The masks featured in

2760-523: The Planet of the Apes (2024), Twisters (2024) and Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) are examples of standalone sequels. A plot reset , or resetquel is a work set in the same universe of its predecessor that resets the plot in a different premise or setting of the work's predecessor with more than one of the same predecessor characters to appease the audience due to extremely negative reception of

2852-662: The Principal Characters in David Simple and David Simple, Volume the Last are extremely innovative and cover almost the entire range of popular narrative styles of the 18th century. The cost of developing triple-A video games has increased significantly over recent years, often reaching tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars due to high expectations for detailed graphics, expansive worlds, and advanced gameplay. Video game companies have turned to sequels as

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2944-675: The Witch (1982), Home Alone 3 (1997), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Species - The Awakening (2007), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Spirit Untamed (2021), Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), Kingdom of

3036-502: The animated Little Mermaid film (1989), and The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000), and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), which took place before Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). A midquel is a term used to refer to works which take place between events. Types include interquels and intraquels. An interquel is a story that takes place in between two previously published or released stories. For example, if 'movie C'

3128-489: The appropriation of his material by unauthorized third parties. Richardson was extremely vocal in his disapproval of the way the protagonist of his novel Pamela was repeatedly incorporated into unauthorized sequels featuring particularly lewd plots. The most famous of these is Henry Fielding 's parody, entitled Shamela . In To Renew Their Former Acquaintance: Print, Gender, and Some Eighteenth Century Sequels , Betty Schellenberg theorizes that whereas for male writers in

3220-582: The bloodied bodies of Kristen and James. Kristen startles one of the boys by grabbing his hand and screaming, before they call the police. Film scholar Kevin Wetmore noted the film's portrayal of violence as a reflection of its contemporary culture, writing: "Death is a random act in post- 9/11 horror—the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the cliché goes. Unlike in eighties slasher horror, for example, where engaging in negative behavior such as drinking, doing drugs, and having premarital sex

3312-409: The box office and averaging $ 8,514 per theater. The film became a sleeper hit with a successful box-office return, earning $ 82.4 million worldwide. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 49% based on 164 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads: " The Strangers has a handful of genuinely scary moments, but they're not enough to elevate

3404-523: The car, but are abruptly stopped when the masked brunette woman rear-ends them in a pickup truck. Mike arrives and James accidentally shoots him dead. He remembers an old radio transmitter in a barn on the property. He leaves and the Man in the Mask knocks him unconscious, and eventually does the same to Kristen inside the house. The couple awakens tied to chairs in the living room. Kristen demands an explanation for

3496-422: The consent of the creator of the original work. These may be dubbed unofficial, informal, unauthorized, or illegitimate sequels. In some cases, the work is in the public domain , and there is no legal obstacle to producing sequels. An example would be books and films serving as sequels to the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , which is in the public domain (as opposed to its 1939 film adaptation ). In other cases,

3588-615: The craft in the world can't redeem its story." Bob Mondello of NPR said the film was "A sadistic, unmotivated home-invasion flick." Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that "No one is getting at anything in The Strangers, except the cheapest, ugliest kind of sadistic titillation." Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News compared the film to 2007's Vacancy – a "comparison which does 'Strangers' no favors. 'Vacancy' director Nimród Antal gave us

3680-403: The director, "Bertino has the pretensions of an artist and the indelicacy of a hack. He tries to get under our skin with a pile driver." Stephen Whitty of The Star-Ledger opined of the film, "Unfolding with an almost startling lack of self-awareness, young filmmaker Bryan Bertino's debut is such a careful, straight-faced knockoff of '70s exploitation films that it plays like a parody." Among

3772-509: The economic sphere and "enhance their professional status" through authorship. Dissociated from the motives of profit and therefore unrestrained by the need for continuity felt by male writers, Schellenberg argues that female-authored sequel fiction tended to have a much broader scope. He says that women writers showed an "innovative freedom" that male writers rejected to "protect their patrimony". For example, Sarah Fielding 's Adventures of David Simple and its sequels Familiar Letters between

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3864-536: The end results above standard slasher fare." Metacritic reported a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Unfavorable reviews included Roger Ebert 's of the Chicago Sun-Times , who gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, saying: "The movie deserves more stars for its bottom-line craft, but all

3956-415: The establishment of a readership became increasingly important to the economic viability of authorship, sequels offered a means to establish a recurring economic outlet. In addition to serving economic profit, the sequel was also used as a method to strengthen an author's claim to his literary property. With weak copyright laws and unscrupulous booksellers willing to sell whatever they could, in some cases

4048-425: The face used on the website appeared to have been produced through the software program Flash Face. ThisMan.org was purchased in May 2010 by Ghost House Pictures, who announced that they were writing and directing a film about This Man, with Bertino contracted as writer/director. Though Bertino worked on other projects, This Man has not been mentioned since then. The Strangers (2008 film) The Strangers

4140-464: The fall of 2006. Originally slated for a theatrical release in November 2007, it was postponed before a theatrical release on May 30, 2008. The film became a sleeper hit , grossing $ 82 million at the box office worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its atmosphere and tension, and others criticizing its script and characters. In the years since its release, it has become

4232-424: The film 3 out of 4 stars, saying that, "This is one of those rare horror movies that concentrates on suspense and terror rather than on gore and a high body count." Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club said that "as an exercise in controlled mayhem, horror movies don't get much scarier." Additional positive feedback for the film came from JoBlo.com reviewer Berge Garabedian, who praised director Bertino for "building

4324-459: The film a "modern-day slasher classic." The A.V. Club named it the 23rd best horror film made since 2000, and in 2023, it was included in a list of the most disturbing films of the 21st century by /Film . In August 2008, Rogue Pictures confirmed that a sequel was in the works, with Brian Bertino co-writing the screenplay with Ben Ketai . The project was originally slated to enter principal photography in 2009, during which time it

4416-455: The film was largely shot in chronological order. Tyler described the shoot as mentally and physically taxing due to the "heightened emotional state" that she and her fellow actors had to sustain. At one point, she came down with tonsillitis due to the extensive screaming the role required of her. Tyler later said it was the most difficult film she had ever worked on, "both physically and emotionally." According to Laura Margolis, who played

4508-509: The film were chosen by Bertino, who wanted them to appear as though the killers "could have picked them up at any store." Film editor Kevin Greutert was hired to edit the film; at the time, he had recently finished editing Saw III . Several changes were made to the film during post-production, primarily regarding the conclusion: In the screenplay and the original footage shot, the three masked strangers reveal their faces on camera. After

4600-461: The film's May release. Two one-sheet posters for the film were released in August 2007, one showing the three masked Strangers, and the other displaying a wounded Liv Tyler. In April 2008, roughly two months before the film's official theatrical debut, the final, official one-sheet for the film was released, featuring Liv Tyler standing in a darkened kitchen with a masked man looming behind her in

4692-457: The film's setting within a 1970s-era home as representative of an "American tradition of violence that is random and without any coherent explanation." Additionally, Williams reads the three masked assailants as metaphors for the "repressed and unresolved tensions affecting the couple inside the house." I was thinking about the Tate murders and realizing that these detailed descriptions had painted

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4784-557: The film; all three were present for a questions-and-answers panel session, as well as a screening of the film's official teaser trailer ; this trailer was released on the internet several weeks later. It was not until March 2008 that a full-length trailer for the film was released, which can be found on Apple 's QuickTime trailer gallery. The trailer originally began running in theaters attached to Rogue Pictures ' sci-fi film Doomsday in March 2008, and television advertisements began airing on networks in early-mid April 2008 to promote

4876-418: The first one, either continuing the remaining plot threads or introducing a new conflict to drive the events of the second story. They can either pick up right where the first work left off, or continue sometime after the events of the first work ended. This is often called a direct sequel . Examples include Toy Story 2 (1999) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980). A prequel is an installment that

4968-497: The first pages". In casting the three masked intruders, Bertino chose Australian fashion model Gemma Ward for the part of Dollface, feeling she had the exact "look" he had imagined; Ward was officially cast in the film in September 2006. In preparing for the role, Ward read Vincent Bugliosi 's Helter Skelter for inspiration. Kip Weeks was then chosen as the Man in the Mask, and television actress Laura Margolis , who found

5060-501: The front door and my little sister answered it. At the door were some people asking for somebody who didn't live there. We later found out that these people were knocking on doors in the area and, if no one was home, breaking into the houses. In interviews, Bertino stated he was "very impressed" with some of the theories circulating on the Internet about the "true events" the movie is allegedly based on, but said that his main inspiration

5152-403: The intruders' actions, to which Dollface replies, "Because you were home." The offenders unmask themselves before taking turns stabbing the couple. They leave and come across two young boys distributing Mormon religious tracts . The boy gives Dollface one, and right before the strangers drive away, Dollface says, "It will be easier next time." The two boys come upon the house, where they discover

5244-431: The launching of the website ThisMan.org. The site claimed that the first recorded sighting of the individual was in 2006 to an anonymous mental patient and that others throughout the world have seen This Man in their dreams. Shortly after the website launch, it was revealed that the website and meme were created by sociologist Andrea Natella, an advertising agency employee who specialized in hoax and viral marketing, and that

5336-449: The life story of a mulatto woman born enslaved on the O'Hara plantation and The Lion King 1½ (2004), featuring the origins of characters Timon and Pumbaa occurring simultaneously within the original 1994 film . Major film examples of true parallels include This is 40 ,sidequel to Knocked Up , focusing mainly on the side story of Pete ( Paul Rudd ) and Debbie ( Leslie Mann ), who are the in-laws of Alison Scott ( Katherine Heigl ) from

5428-435: The major movie studios revealed that franchise movies dominate the highest grossing films lists, establishing sequels as reliable kinds of movies to make. All studios have come to rely on releasing sequels as they increase the studios' profitability, yield to the consumer demand for simultaneous novelty and familiarity, and help manage risk and uncertainty within studio production and release. Sequels are most often produced in

5520-421: The morning. The couple attempt to have sex, but are interrupted by a knock at the door. They answer to find a young woman, asking if Tamara is home. James dismisses her, and builds a fire for Kristen. James goes to purchase cigarettes for Kristen. The woman from earlier returns, asking the same question. Kristen dismisses her again. A masked man is seen silently watching her from inside the house. Kristen notices

5612-487: The only way to prove ownership of a text was to produce another like it. Sequels in this sense are rather limited in scope, as the authors are focused on producing "more of the same" to defend their "literary paternity". As is true throughout history, sequels to novels provided an opportunity for authors to interact with a readership. This became especially important in the economy of the 18th century novel, in which authors often maintained readership by drawing readers back with

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5704-414: The original film. Alongside sequels, there are also other types of continuation or inspiration of a previous work. A spin-off is a work that is not a sequel to any previous works, but is set in the same universe. It is a separate work-on-its-own in the same franchise as the series of other works. Spin-offs are often focused on one or more of the minor characters from the other work or new characters in

5796-509: The original story, often with the same characters and settings. A sequel can lead to a series , in which key elements appear repeatedly. The difference between more than one sequel and a series is somewhat arbitrary. Sequels are attractive to creators and publishers because there is less risk involved in returning to a story with known popularity rather than developing new and untested characters and settings. Audiences are sometimes eager for more stories about popular characters or settings, making

5888-565: The plot. They are often made many years after the original works were made. Legacy sequels are sometimes also direct sequels that ignore previous installments entirely, effectively retconning preceding events . Superman Returns (2006), Halloween (2018), Candyman (2021), Cobra Kai (2018-2025), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015-2019), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), Tron: Legacy (2010), Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Doctor Sleep (2019), Rocky Balboa (2006),

5980-418: The positive reviews, Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times said The Strangers is "suspenseful," "highly effective," and "smartly maintain[s] its commitment to tingling creepiness over bludgeoning horror." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter called the film a "creepily atmospheric psychological thriller with a death grip on the psychological aspect." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave

6072-580: The predecessor. An example: The Suicide Squad (2021) to Suicide Squad (2016). A spiritual sequel is a work inspired by its predecessor. It shares the same styles, genres and elements as its predecessor, but has no direct connection to it at all. Most spiritual sequels are also set in different universes from their predecessors, and some spiritual sequels aren't even a part of their predecessor's franchise, making them non-franchise sequels . Spiritual sequels can sometimes be repurposed from material originally intended to be direct sequels. An example of this

6164-399: The previous versions of the franchise. Contemporary reboots lean into the nostalgia factor and create new stories that simultaneously revel in the aspects of the original franchise that made it notable in the first place. In The Afterlife of a Character , David Brewer describes a reader's desire to "see more", or to know what happens next in the narrative after it has ended. The origin of

6256-504: The production of multiple novel sequels, sometimes rivaling or even dwarfing the volume of works in the original medium. For example, the 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians , its 1961 animated adaptation and that film's 1996 live-action remake each have a sequel unrelated to the other sequels: respectively The Starlight Barking (1967), 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003, direct to video) and 102 Dalmatians (2000). Sometimes sequels are produced without

6348-410: The production of sequels financially appealing. In film, sequels are very common. There are many name formats for sequels. Sometimes, they either have unrelated titles or have a letter added to the end. More commonly, they have numbers at the end or have added words at the end. It is also common for a sequel to have a variation of the original title or a subtitle. In the 1930s, many musical sequels had

6440-463: The promise of more of what they liked from the original. With sequels, therefore, came the implicit division of readers by authors into the categories of "desirable" and "undesirable"—that is, those who interpret the text in a way unsanctioned by the author. Only after having achieved a significant reader base would an author feel free to alienate or ignore the "undesirable" readers. This concept of "undesirable" readers extends to unofficial sequels with

6532-495: The rough folk of the country rather than the suburbs and cities. Of course, it may be that provincial violence is a result of contamination, or in other words that the kind of stranger-upon-stranger violence typically associated with urban life metastasizes to the rural, a phenomenon noted by Louis Wirth ." In his book Hearths of Darkness: The Family in the American Horror Film (2014), scholar Tony Williams notes

6624-628: The same medium as the previous work (e.g. a film sequel is usually a sequel to another film). Producing sequels to a work in another medium has also become common, especially when the new medium is less costly or time-consuming to produce. A sequel to a popular but discontinued television series may be produced in another medium, thereby bypassing whatever factors led to the series' cancellation such as Serenity (sequel to Firefly (TV series) ), Downton Abbey: A New Era (sequel to Downton Abbey ), and Veronica Mars (sequel to Veronica Mars ). Some highly popular movies and television series have inspired

6716-497: The same universe as the other work. The Scorpion King , Planes , Minions , Hobbs & Shaw and Lightyear are examples of spin-off movies while Star Trek: The Next Generation , Torchwood and CSI: NY are examples of spin-off television series. A crossover is a work where two previous works from different franchises are meeting in the same universe. Alien vs. Predator , Freddy vs. Jason , The Lego Movie and Deadpool & Wolverine are examples of

6808-402: The screenplay was "extremely well-written" and that Bertino's "vision was greater than most." Thandie Newton and Charlize Theron also expressed interest in the role. Canadian actor Scott Speedman was cast as James. Speedman was also impressed by the script, stating that "the audience actually gets time to breathe with the characters before things get scary as hell. That got me interested from

6900-421: The screenplay, Universal passed the project on to its subsidiary, Rogue Pictures , who approached Bertino to direct the project, despite his lack of experience. On a $ 9 million budget, filming for The Strangers began on October 10, 2006, and finished in early 2007. It was shot on location roughly 10 miles (16 km) outside of Florence, South Carolina , and the 2,000-square-foot (190 m ) house interior

6992-598: The script to be a real "page turner", was cast in the part of Pin-Up Girl. In retrospect, Bertino said he chose the three actors based on their abilities to convey their characters in spite of the fact that their faces remain unseen onscreen. Bertino had not initially planned on directing The Strangers , and had been disconnected from the project after selling directorial rights to Universal Pictures. Both Justin Lin and Mark Romanek were attached to direct, but eventually backed out. Approximately two years after Bertino had sold

7084-412: The script, which she read while on a flight from Japan to Los Angeles: "I especially liked Bryan's way of saying a lot, but not saying everything. Often in movies, it's all spelled out for you, and the dialogue is very explanatory. But Bryan doesn't write like that; he writes how normal people communicate—with questions lingering. I knew it would be interesting to act that." Tyler later noted that she felt

7176-399: The sequel as it is conceived in the 21st century developed from the novella and romance traditions in a slow process that culminated towards the end of the 17th century. The substantial shift toward a rapidly growing print culture and the rise of the market system by the early 18th-century meant that an author's merit and livelihood became increasingly linked to the number of copies of

7268-455: The sequence in which Kristen and James are stabbed, the strangers wander around the house, cleaning up parts of the crime scene before dressing into Kristen and James's clothes. Following test screenings, it was decided by the producers that the strangers' faces should remain unseen to the audience, which required the sequences following the stabbing to be excised. A musical score, consisting of 19 pieces composed by score producers Tomandandy ,

7360-409: The shadows. The producers originally planned for a summer release on July 13, 2007, which was eventually postponed to November 2007; however, this date was postponed as well. The producers instead opted for a summer release, and The Strangers had its theatrical debut in the United States and Canada on May 30, 2008. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $ 21 million in 2,467 theaters, ranking #3 at

7452-541: The smoke alarm she'd dropped on the floor earlier is now sitting on a chair and realizes someone is in the house. She finds her cellphone missing and is horrified when the front door is forced ajar. The young woman, now wearing a mask, peers into the house. She locks the door and retreats. James returns and reassures Kristen that nobody is in the house. They see the young masked woman, Dollface, watching their house from outside. He attempts to get his cellphone from their car but finds it ransacked. The couple attempts to escape in

7544-432: The tension nicely, with lots of silences, creepy voices, jump scares, use of songs and a sharp eye behind the camera, as well as plenty of Steadicam give it all more of a voyeuristic feel." Critic Kim Newman , writing for Empire magazine, remarked the film's retro style, noting: "Like much recent horror, from the homages of the grindhouse gang through flat multiplex remakes of drive-in classics, The Strangers looks to

7636-399: The underprivileged and privileged classes," as well as for its inversion of commonly-held beliefs about violence in urban areas and pastoral ethics: " The Strangers , as many horror films do ... undermines the conventional notion of rural society as a simpler, crime-free place. One might call the narrative sensibility informing The Strangers 'pastoral paranoia', in that danger lurks among

7728-403: The year included in the title. Sometimes sequels are released with different titles in different countries, because of the perceived brand recognition. There are several ways that subsequent works can be related to the chronology of the original. Various neologisms have been coined to describe them. The most common approach is for the events of the second work to directly follow the events of

7820-479: Was asked to direct The Strangers despite a lack of directorial experience. In 2010, Bertino announced he was working on the thriller or horror film This Man , which was being produced by Sam Raimi and his company Ghost House Pictures . The film is about a mysterious man's face appearing in the dreams of many individuals. The film concept is built upon the internet meme that appeared in October 2009 , with

7912-426: Was constructed by a set crew . Though the film takes place in 2005, the house itself was deliberately constructed with an architecture reminiscent of 1970s ranch houses and dressed in furnishings applicable to the era. Bertino based the house on the types of homes common where he had grown up in rural Texas . The property was located on the outskirts of Timmonsville, South Carolina . Despite weather complications,

8004-551: Was inspired by two real-life events: the multiple-homicide Manson family Tate murders and a series of break-ins that occurred in Bertino's neighborhood as a child. Some journalists noted similarities between the film and the Keddie cabin murders that occurred in Keddie, California , in 1981, though Bertino did not cite this as a reference. Made on a budget of $ 9 million, the film was shot on location in rural South Carolina in

8096-596: Was released in September 2020 by the United Kingdom-based distributor Second Sight Films. Scream Factory announced a new 4K UHD Blu-ray in North America scheduled for release on September 10, 2024. In the years since its original release, The Strangers has developed a cult following . In 2009, it was ranked #13 on " Bravo 's 13 Scarier Movie Moments" television piece, and in a 2018 retrospective, Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly deemed

8188-576: Was released on May 27, 2008, and was distributed by Lakeshore Records . The album was received with generally positive reviews by critics. "It's a creepy score for what appears to be a movie that will make you jump as well as make sure that the doors are locked at night," writes reviewer Jeff Swindoll. "This is an impressive score and adds a tremendous chill-factor to the film," says Zach Freeman of Blogger News , grading it with an A. All tracks are written by Tomandandy In late July 2007, Bertino, Tyler and Speedman attended San Diego Comic-Con to promote

8280-435: Was significantly inspired by thriller films of the 1970s while writing the screenplay, and envisioned a film that "put the audience in the world of the victims." According to production notes and subsequent interviews, the film was inspired by true events from Bertino's childhood: Bertino explains: As a kid, I lived in a house on a street in the middle of nowhere. One night, while our parents were out, somebody knocked on

8372-419: Was tentatively titled The Strangers: Part II . Directors Laurent Briet and Marcel Langenegger were considered to direct, but landed eventually to Johannes Roberts . After a troubled development period , filming on the sequel began May 30, 2017. Later titled The Strangers: Prey at Night , the film was released on March 9, 2018. Standalone sequel In many cases, the sequel continues elements of

8464-647: Was the true crime book Helter Skelter , which is about the Manson Family murders ; some journalists speculated that the film was also inspired by the unsolved Keddie Cabin Murders of 1981 that occurred in a small vacation community in California's Sierra Nevada . The film's premise has been compared by some film critics to the French horror film Them , released two years earlier, which also features

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