By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The drive-in hit of five years ago is getting a sequel.
Variety reports that Brett and Drew Pierce are returning to write, produce and direct THE WRETCHED 2, with filming set to begin in September in Oregon. In the original, which grossed $1.8 million at drive-ins during the worst of the pandemic in 2020, a teenage boy moves to a small town and must take on a witch that’s preying on local children. According to the trade, “In THE WRETCHED 2, a small-town deputy is pulled into a rash of missing children’s cases only to discover that the skin-changing Wretch is back and has been preying upon the families of his community for a century.” Casting is currently underway.
“Independent horror has been staking out its claim at the box office in the last couple of years with films like TERRIFIER 3 and LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL,” the Pierces say in a statement, “and audiences are craving more from these original stories and voices. It just seems like the right time to bring our Witch back as she was born out of us wanting more from our creature features that we just weren’t getting. We’re going to push this story and the body horror into uncomfortable places.”