The Strangers: Chapter 2 has already been filmed – here's what you need to know (2024)

The Strangers: Chapter 2 will be creeping into cinemas later this year, but we don't know exactly when yet.

In an ambitious move, Lionsgate decided to reboot the classic 2008 horror with a trilogy of movies, telling one complete story and filming them all at the same time.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is not going to be one of those reboots that promises a sequel that never comes, and it is planned that we'll see the remaining two movies within the space of a year.

And now with Chapter 1 in cinemas, let's look ahead to tell you everything you need to know about The Strangers: Chapter 2.

(Be warned, major spoilers for The Strangers: Chapter 1 follow.)

The Strangers: Chapter 2 does not yet have an official release date, but we can expect to see it this year.

Talking to Variety, Renny Harlin – who directed all three movies – estimated that the sequel will be released in "September or October", before the third movie comes out at "the beginning of next year".

All three movies were filmed back-to-back from September to November 2022, so there shouldn't be any delays if Lionsgate want to release The Strangers: Chapter 2 as a Halloween treat this year.

So far, the only person we know we'll be seeing in The Strangers: Chapter 2 is Madelaine Petsch, who will be back as Maya.

Maya was stabbed by The Strangers at the end of Chapter 1, but lived to fight another day. The same can't be said of Maya's boyfriend Ryan, played by Froy Gutierrez, who looked to be fatally stabbed and is probably a goner.

When the trilogy was announced, The Night Agent star Gabriel Basso was confirmed to be cast in the movies. He didn't appear in Chapter 1, so we can only assume that he'll be in the sequel, although we don't know who he'll be playing.

We could well see Rachel Shenton back as Maya's sister Debbie, while we might also see the return of Ema Horvath as Shelly and Richard Brake as Sheriff Rotter.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 largely followed the same story as the original 2008 movie where the lead couple – Maya and Ryan here – are terrorised by The Strangers, resulting in the death of Ryan and Maya being injured, but not killed.

In the credit scene, we see Maya waking up in hospital following her ordeal and as she sits up in her hospital bed, we see Scarecrow has been waiting there all along by her side.

We'd be surprised if Maya is killed there and then, so expect her to get out of that situation. But don't expect her situation to get much better with The Strangers still around.

"Throughout every step of the next two films it's just, 'How is she going to get out of this terrorising situation?'," Petsch told Variety.

"And it's not necessarily all only home invasion, but they continue to invade her life in any way possible. Even in ways you don't think are possible, they're doing something f**ked up. We really bend the rules a lot, which is fun."

Harlin added: "This was such an opportunity to have four and a half hours of a case study of victims of a violent crime and the perpetrators and what makes them tick and how it affects a person who goes through this."

Petsch also revealed to Digital Spy that the entire trilogy takes place over the course of five days, so don't expect any time jumps in the next two movies.

"I like to look at these three bodies of work as, especially as I play this character, really a character study on if you push a person past their breaking point, who are they left with at the end of the day," she noted.

We've been promised surprises now that the opening chapter is out of the way, so all bets are off going forward.

What we do know though is that we will find out who "Tamara" is that The Strangers always ask for.

Even though it's been filmed, we don't yet have a trailer to show you for The Strangers: Chapter 2. But if the movie is out later this year, hopefully we won't have to wait too long.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is out now in cinemas. The Strangers: Chapter 2 does not yet have a release date.