EXCLUSIVE: Cary Elwes has joined the cast of Black Christmas, the Blumhouse Productions remake of the 1974 slasher cult classic for Universal Pictures. Elwes will play a main part in the film but details of the role were not disclosed.

Elwes joins a cast led by Imogen Poots and featuring Aleyse Shannon, Brittany O’Grady, Lily Donoghue, and Caleb Eberhardt. Sophia Takal is set to direct working off a script she wrote with April Wolfe. Filming begins soon in New Zealand. Black Christmas will be released Dec 13, a week shy of the 45th anniversary of the original film’s U.S. release.

Elwes, who may be best known for The Princess Bride, is featured in the upcoming third season of the Netflix series Stranger Things as well as the upcoming third season of Amazon’sThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The Brit has become somewhat of a specialist in the horror sector, too, after roles in Saw, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Bride, and Psych 9.

The original Christmas Day was directed by Bob Clark, best known for a different holiday classic: The Christmas Story (1983). Olivia Hussey of Romeo and Juliet and Margot Kidder of Superman were among the sorority sisters being stalked by a deranged killer (Nick Mancuso) despite the efforts of a police lieutenant (John Saxon of A Nightmare on Elm Street).

The new Black Christmas will update the premise. The synopsis: “Hawthorne College is quieting down for the holidays. One by one, sorority girls on campus are being killed by an unknown stalker. But the killer is about to discover that this generation’s young women aren’t willing to become hapless victims as they mount a fight to the finish. “

Producing are Jason Blum (Halloween) for Blumhouse Productions, Ben Cosgrove (previously president of 2929 Productions and SVP of Production at Paramount Pictures), and Adam Hendricks (Cam) of Divide/Conquer. Greg Gilreath (Cam) and Zac Locke (Adopt-A-Highway), of Divide/Conquer, will executive produce.

Elwes is repped by APA, Link, Viewpoint, and Goodman Schenkman & Brecheen LLP.

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