For somebody to drive a chainsaw through a human body, swing a mallet down on someone's head, and wear another person's skin on their own, they likely had some tumultuous teen years. Though we got a taste of what Leatherface's, aka Thomas Hewitt's, younger years were like in Jonathan Liebesman's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, we haven't had a full helping of those growing pains-filled times, but French filmmakers Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo are looking to change that with Leatherface, an upcoming prequel to Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. From Millennium Films, Leatherface will at the very least explore a slice of the titular antagonist's teen life and although cameras haven't started rolling on the project yet, a growing cast is being assembled, with one of the actors potentially set to play the legendary backroads killer.
TheWrap recently reported that Sam Strike (EastEnders) is in negotiations to play Jackson, one of the lead roles in Leatherface, which is set to take place in the early 1970s and follow three psychopaths, one of whom grows up to become the chainsaw-wielding butcher after the trio escape from an asylum. At this point, it looks like there will be some mystery interwoven with the film's horror elements, as we likely won't know which of the three troubled teens will become the killer until late in the film.
In addition to Strike's casting, TheWrap also reports that James Bloor (The Total Princess) is in final talks to play Ike, "a budding young maniac who, like Strike’s character, also grows up to potentially wield the iconic chainsaw."
Bloody Disgusting, meanwhile, recently revealed that Angela Bettis (The Woman, 2002's Carrie) is lined up for the role of Leatherface's mother. Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside, Livid, "X is for Xylophone" segment of ABCs of Death 2) will direct Leatherface off a screenplay by Seth M. Sherwood (Black Mass short, The World of Cory and Sid TV series). Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman and Carl Mazzacone, who backed 2013's Texas Chainsaw 3D, are producing Leatherface, as well.
Sam Strike:
Angela Bettis (on the right):
Poster via Bloody Disgusting:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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