Urban Legend Reboot Reportedly Scores Arrow Star

Production on most movies and TV shows might currently be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but not all hope is lost, as a number of different projects continue to progress behind the scenes, with a report from Collider claiming that Arrow star Katherine McNamara has joined the upcoming reboot of Urban Legend, in addition to newcomer Sydney Chandler. Colin Minihan (What Keeps You Alive) is set to write and direct the film, though it’s unclear when the project could move forward, so it surely won’t be landing in theaters until 2021 at the earliest, most of which depends on how Hollywood copes with the pandemic.

In the original 1998 movie, “When New England college student Natalie (Alicia Witt, TV’s The Exorcist) finds herself at the center of a series of sadistic murders seemingly inspired by urban legends, she resolves to find the truth about her school’s own legend: a twenty-five-year-old story of a student massacre at the hands of an abnormal Psych professor. As the fraternities prepare to celebrate the macabre anniversary, Natalie discovers that she is the focus of the crazed killer’s intentions in the ultimate urban legend – the unfolding story of her own horrific murder.”

Joining Witt in the original film were some of the biggest teen stars of the ’90s, including Joshua Jackson, Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Michael Rosenbaum, and Tara Reid. The film also had some horror heavyweights with both Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Brad Dourif (Child’s Play) making appearances in the project.

This new take on the material is set to explore the world of urban legends in the digital age, with previous reports claiming this reboot would focus on a “diverse cast of college students as they navigate a series of bizarre deaths that resemble urban legends linked to the darkest corners of social media.” Given the prominence that social media has taken in all of our lives, in addition to audiences witnessing firsthand how contemporary urban legends like Slender Man or the “Momo Challenge” can infest all corners of the internet, the film will surely be a timely reflection of the difficulties of sifting through fictional reports to find facts on social media.

The original film earned two sequels, with Urban Legends: Final Cut landing in theaters in 2000 and Urban Legends: Bloody Mary landing on video in 2005.

Stay tuned for details on the new Urban Legend.

Are you looking forward to the new film? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!