Jackie Earle Haley, Justine Lupe and 8 more join Neon’s They Follow

Neon has added 10 actors, including Jackie Earle Haley and Justine Lupe, to They Follow, David Robert Mitchell’s sequel to 2015’s It Follows, ahead of a planned production start this summer.

TL;DR

• They Follow adds 10 actors: Jackie Earle Haley, Justine Lupe, Michael Gandolfini, Anna Mirodin, Jayne Taini, Tom Pecinka, Melora Walters, Ben Krieger, Natalie Shinnick and Jan Hoag.
• Maika Monroe returns as lead character Jay Height; Naomi Ackie, confirmed in June, also stars.
• Mitchell returns to write and direct; the story picks up a decade after the original film.
• Composer Disasterpeace is back to score the sequel, which is expected to begin filming this summer.

Ten names, one returning nightmare

Jackie Earle Haley leads the new additions to They Follow, according to a report from Deadline. He’s joined by Justine Lupe and Michael Gandolfini, along with Anna Mirodin, Jayne Taini, Tom Pecinka, Melora Walters, Ben Krieger, Natalie Shinnick and Jan Hoag.

The 10 join a cast already led by Maika Monroe, reprising her role as Jay Height from the original film, and Naomi Ackie, whose casting was first reported in June.

Plot details remain under wraps. According to Deadline, the only confirmed detail is that the story takes place a decade after the events of the 2014 original.

A decade-later sequel to a modern horror classic

Mitchell, who also directed Under the Silver Lake, wrote and is directing the sequel for Neon and Good Fear Content. Cinematographer Mike Gioulakis and editor Julio C. Perez IV are returning from the first film, and composer Disasterpeace is back to score the follow-up, per Deadline’s report.

They Follow is expected to begin principal photography this summer. It’s the latest in a run of horror franchises returning to cast wide, following similar casting waves for the Skeletons creature feature and the new Paranormal Activity installment earlier this year.

UK angle: no date yet, but a track record

UK release history It Follows opened in UK cinemas on 27 February 2015 through Icon Film Distribution, carrying a BBFC 15 rating. Source: thepeoplesmovies.com

No UK release date has been set for They Follow. Given Icon handled the original’s UK theatrical run and Neon has UK distribution deals in place for its recent slate, a similar cinema release is likely once a date is confirmed.

Box office pedigree

$23.3 million Worldwide gross of the original It Follows (2014), made on a $1.3 million budget. Source: The Numbers box office database

That return on a micro-budget is part of why Neon and Good Fear moved forward with a sequel more than a decade later, alongside the original’s lasting reputation as a modern horror touchstone.

What’s next

Casting is still expected to grow as They Follow nears its summer shoot. Screen & Story will update this story with confirmed character names and a release date once Neon makes them official.