Original Wrong Turn Writer Hopes to Develop Two More Sequels

The original Wrong Turn earned five sequels after first landing in theaters in 2003, while 2021 brought a reimagined take on the material, with both the first film and the reboot penned by writer Alan B. McElroy. The most recent Wrong Turn didn’t earn quite the same attention as the original slasher movie, largely due to a complicated release in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but McElroy confirmed that he still has ideas for two more sequels that would allow him to more fully realize elements that debuted in the most recent entry. Whether those sequels will ever come together is yet to be seen, as the Wrong Turn reboot failed to earn much attention upon release.

“I had planned two more films, so there would be a trilogy, based around this idea of the Foundation and these characters,” McElroy shared with Entertainment Weekly. “I’d love to finish it and see it all come out the way I wanted.”

The Wrong Turn reboot is described, “Backwoods terror and never-jangling suspense meet when Jen (Charlotte Vega) and a group of friends set out to hike the Appalachian Trail. Despite warnings to stick to the trail, the hikers stray off course — and cross into land inhabited by The Foundation, a hidden community of mountain dwellers who use deadly means to protect their way of life. Suddenly under siege, Jen and her friends seem headed to the point of no return — unless Jen’s father (Golden Globe nominee Matthew Modine) can reach them in time.”

The original film explored what happened when a group of travelers got off course while on a road trip through West Virginia and they encountered a group of mutated and disfigured murderers, akin to an experience like Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes. Subsequent films had few narrative connections from one entry to the next, other than subjecting new groups of victims to the terror of the mountain dwellers. The first half of the reboot replicated the spirit of the original franchise, as victims were targeted by mysterious attackers, only for the film to reveal that these threats were a mountain community that opted for a life of isolation in service of spiritual beliefs. 

Understandably, this reboot brings with it a lot more storytelling potential as compared to the relatively redundant and repetitive nature of the initial sequels. 

Stay tuned for updates on the possible future of the Wrong Turn franchise.

Would you like to see the reboot get sequels? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!