TriStar Pictures has acquired Spyglass Media Group‘s “Thanksgiving,” a full-length slasher film inspired by the fake trailer from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double feature “Grindhouse,” according to an insider with knowledge of the project.
Roth is attached to direct the horror thriller film. “Thanksgiving” is co-written by Roth and Jeff Rendell, with Roger Birnbaum, Roth and Rendell producing.
Chatter has existed about turning the jokey trailer into an actual movie, with Roth having written a screenplay over a dozen years ago. Fantasy became fact when Spyglass stepped in late last year to finance the picture, with shooting to begin in Toronto next month.
The “Thanksgiving” trailer was one of several fake trailers played before the “Planet Terror” — Rodriguez’s zombie sci-fi horror flick and then before Tarantino’s “Death Proof,” when the films played as one long double feature in early 2007. One of the trailers, Rodriguez’s “Machete” starring Danny Trejo as an ass-kicking Mexican immigrant, spawned “Machete” in 2010 and “Machete Kills” in 2013.
The film stars Patrick Dempsey (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Nell Verlaque (“Big Shot”), Addison Rae (“He’s All That”), Jalen Thomas Brooks (“Walker”), and Milo Manheim (“Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.”).
While plot details are mostly concealed, it is believed that Dempsey would play a small-town sheriff in Massachusetts who must fend off a holiday-specific murder spree.
Spyglass’ Chairman and CEO, Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre, President of Production, will serve as executive producers alongside Cream Productions Inc.’s Kate Harrison. Oillataguerre and Chris Stone, Senior Vice President of Production & Development, will oversee the film on behalf of Spyglass. Caellum Allan and Kelseigh Coombs will oversee the film for TriStar Pictures.
“Thanksgiving” will be released in theaters worldwide by TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group.
Roth recently directed “Borderlands” with Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis, which he also co-wrote with “The Last of Us” showrunner Craig Mazin. Roth’s credits include horror films “Cabin Fever,” “Hostel” and “The House with a Clock in Its Walls,” which were global box office hits.
Deadline first reported the news.
