Cult Horror ‘Black Christmas’ Remake Adds Imogen Poots to Cast Roster

English actress Imogen Poots will star in Blumhouse Production and Universal’s remake of Black Christmas, a cult ‘80s slasher. Directed by Sophia Takal, the horror classic remake is set to be released December 13, 2019, just in time for slightly grimmer and horrific holidays.

Released October 1974, the original Black Christmas horror/mystery film grossed approximately $4 million at the worldwide box office. Directed by Bob Clark and written by Roy Moore, the film starred Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, and Andrea Martin. Inspired by the urban legend “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs,” Black Christmas became one of the earliest slasher films to receive a cult following.

The film follows a group of sorority sisters at Hawthorne College who receive threatening phone calls and are eventually hunted down and killed during the Christmas season. After the huge success of 2018’s reboot film, “Halloween,” that starred Jamie Lee Curtis, Blumhouse and Universal Pictures saw the potential for a remake for Black Christmas. The Halloween remake continues Laurie Strode story as she finally confronts her longtime foe Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since her escape from his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. Halloween has grossed approximately $255.5 million at the worldwide box office.

Black Christmas Remake

The Black Christmas remake will also star Aleyse Shannon, Brittany O’Grady, Lily Donoghue, and Caleb Eberhardt. Takal and April Wolfe wrote the script, with the film scheduled to shoot in New Zealand. Jason Blum for Blumhouse Productions will produce alongside with Ben Cosgrove and Adam Hendricks of Divide/Conquer. Greg Gilreath and Zac Locke of Divide/Conquer will executive produce.

Takal teams up again with Blumhouse’s television arm after working with them on “New Year, New You,” released in 2018. Hulu’s “Into the Dark” anthology series starred Suki Waterhouse, Carly Chaikin, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Isabella Acres, and Melissa Bergland. “New Year, New You” follows the story of a group of old friends that gather for a girl’s night on New Year’s Eve. However, as they start to reminisce about old memories, many of their grudges they’ve been keeping turns into murderous ways.

Black Christmas hits theaters December 13, 2019.