The Strangers: Chapter 1 Producer Addresses Reboot Trilogy's Theatrical vs. Streaming Plans

Courtney Solomon reflects on pitching the ambitious experience to Lionsgate.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Between the rise of attention being paid to streaming platforms and the coronavirus pandemic taking a major toll on movie theaters, the past few years have been full of unexpected developments when it comes to how movies are both made and also released. The Strangers: Chapter 1, for example, was originally developed as an experience that would likely have been released directly to the streaming market, though producer Courtney Solomon confirmed that the excitement from studio Lionsgate allowed the project to pivot to earn a theatrical release. In addition to the creative components of the project, the studio was also confident in that filming three slasher films in a sprawling production would be vastly different from attempting to film three major blockbusters. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is in theaters now.

"On the filming side of it, [Lionsgate said], 'Okay, make the giant movie, we understand that they'll be three parts.' When we went into it, we didn't know the first one was gonna be a theatrical movie," Solomon confirmed to ComicBook. "That's not how we went into it, because in the world we live in, so many places where you can put a movie out, streaming, everything else, nobody was really worried. And it wasn't like we were spending $800 million a movie, so that wasn't the biggest concern, either. So all the business and the numbers of everything, whichever way it might have gone, worked out."

He continued, "We were fortunate that once they liked the creative and we presented them a pretty detailed treatment, they let us go ahead and make the movie and they were very supportive, and that was great. As they saw the first cut of the first movie and then we went on further, they were like, 'Okay, this is a theatrical movie, we're good.' And we're like, 'Yay! That's good.'"

Understandably, Solomon, the rest of the filmmakers, and audiences would prefer if the upcoming second and third chapters also earned theatrical releases, with the producer confirming the fate of those films will likely be dependent on how this first chapter performs financially.

"So now, I guess, obviously, it depends on how we do, they're business people," the producer pointed out. "The hope is that they'd love to bring out these next two movies at the same size that they brought out this movie ... Thankfully, we don't have the most giant mountain to climb like a lot of these movies do these days, on that side of it. We feel confident and they feel very good, but you never know which way it's gonna go, right? That's life."

He added, "It was a smart way of doing it, in so much as, we just looked at it from a fan satisfaction point of view. We want to tell this story, the only way we can tell it is as this giant thing, it will, in fact, be three parts. 'Let's figure out economically, for you guys, how that works, great, you're covered.' Now, we'll do our job and hopefully the audience will get to see it in the best possible way."

Related:

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is in theaters now. Stay tuned for updates on The Strangers: Chapter 1 and The Strangers: Chapter 2.

Are you hoping the rest of the trilogy is released theatrically? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror! 

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