Last year, the Danish psychological horror-thriller Speak No Evil was released and received international acclaim. Now, Blumhouse, the iconic horror film studio, is already preparing to make a remake. James McAvoy is set to star with a theatrical release scheduled August 9, 2024.
The original Danish film follows a Danish family, who after hitting it off with a Dutch family they meet on vacation, are invited to visit their new friends. What begins as a perfect weekend in a remote area of the Netherlands quickly turns dark as “as the Danes try to stay polite in the face of unpleasantness.” Speak No Evil was a huge hit with critics and audiences and quickly became an international hit. It is currently unknown how closely the remake will follow the original film and what changes will be made.
McAvoy is best known for films like X-Men: First Class, The Last King of Scotland, and Atonement. The BAFTA winner last made his mark in the horror world with It: Chapter 2, which was a hugely successful film for the genre. He also previously worked with Blumhouse in the genre with the box office successes of Split and Glass, which made over half a billion worldwide combined. His name being attached gives a lot of confidence to the remake. Later this year, he can be seen starring alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and LaKeith Stanfield in The Book of Clarence.
Who Is Behind This Remake?
This Speak No Evil remake will be directed by James Watkins based on his own script, based on the screenplay by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup. Most recently, he directed and served as showrunner on the sixties spy thriller series The Ipcress File. He also directed the fan-favorite Black Mirror episode “Shut Up and Dance.” In terms of films, Watkins directed the cult thriller Eden Lake and the Daniel Radcliffe horror movie The Woman In Black. His writing credits include Eden Lake, the horror-thriller Gone, The Descent: Part 2, and the Idris Elba action movie The Take.
Jason Blum will produce Speak No Evil for Blumhouse. Meanwhile, Paul Ritchie, Christian Tafdrup, Jacob Jarek, and Bea Sequeira will serve as executive producers. Currently, McAvoy is the only member of the cast announced.
Speak No Evil will release in theaters on August 9, 2024. Stay tuned to Collider for any future updates. Check out the trailer for the original Danish film below: