Legendary has closed a deal for Ryan and Andy Tohill to direct a reboot of the classic 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The pic will be written by Chris Thomas Devlin with Bad Hombre’s Fede Alvarez and Rodolfo Sayagues producing through their overall deal with Legendary.
“The Tohill’s vision is exactly what the fans want,” Alvarez said in a statement. “It’s violent, exciting and so depraved that it will stay with you forever.”
The original 1974 Tobe Hooper movie followed two siblings and three of their friends en route to visit their grandfather’s grave in Texas, who end up falling victim to a family of cannibalistic psychopaths and must survive the terrors of Leatherface and his family.
What was at first considered a cult classic has grown into one of horror’s most iconic properties, spawning three sequels, including one that starred Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes rebooted the movie in 2003 to box office success, leading to a 2006 prequel. Lionsgate followed that up with two other new entries in the franchise, “Texas Chainsaw 3D” and “Leatherface.”
Legendary landed the rights around the time the studio signed Bad Hombre to a first-look deal and sees an opportunity to relaunch the franchise all over again.
Plot details on this latest reboot are being kept under wraps, including how the infamous chainsaw-wielding Leatherface fits into this new world.
The Tohill’s first feature film, “The Dig,” premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2018, winning best Irish feature. It was accepted at the Toronto International Film Festival, and scored a nomination at the British Independent Film Awards in 2018. It was distributed in the U.K. by Element Pictures and in the U.S. by Electric Entertainment. The duo has also directed shorts which won awards in the festival circuit, and were named best newcomer directors at the Cornwall Film Festival for “Eye Line.” In 2015, they directed the short “Insulin,” based within the world of the BAFTA-nominated Irish film “The Survivalist.”
Previously, Ryan worked in the art department of TV productions such as HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and BBC’s “Line of Duty” and “The Fall,” as well as numerous feature films like “Philomena.” Andy has had a career as an editor, working on U.K. TV shows and documentaries.
