James McAvoy Is Remaking A Highly-Acclaimed Horror Movie
James McAvoy is remaking the classic horror film, Speak No Evil.
The horror film genre is having a resurgence, and a number of classic horror films like Hellraiser, Halloween, and Final Destination are receiving upcoming sequels and remakes. One more recent film is receiving the remake treatment after attaining critical success. According to an article from Hollywood Reporter, the X-Men star James McAvoy has been cast in the upcoming horror film remake Speak No Evil.
James McAvoy is teaming up again with Blumhouse Studio, which he worked with previously when he featured in Split and Glass. Both films were directed by M. Night Shyamalan and showed McAvoy’s range as an actor. Speak No Evil is a remake of the Danish psychological horror film Gaesterne, marketed as Speak No Evil in a number of countries.
The original film revolved around a Danish couple who are invited on a weekend retreat to another couple’s country house, only to find that their hosts are not as genial as they initially appeared. James McAvoy’s remake of the film will involve a similar storyline, although it remains to be seen what creative liberties the crew decides to take with the original material. The original film has an 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 78 out of 100 on Metacritic.
Although James McAvoy’s character hasn’t been revealed yet, fans do know that the film will be directed by James Watkins, known for his work on The Woman in Black and Eden Lake. Jason Blum will produce with the original film’s writer-director Christian Tafdrup serving as executive producer.
Since releasing 2007’s smash hit found footage horror film Paranormal Activity, Blumhouse has released a number of the most influential horror films of the past decade, including Insidious, The Purge, Get Out, and The Invisible Man. Their most recent features include the Ethan Hawke-led film The Black Phone and 2023’s killer-doll horror movie M3GAN. Outside of James McAvoy’s Speak No Evil, the studio is also working on the upcoming Insidious: Fear the Dark, The Exorcist (a sequel to the 1973 horror classic), and a film adaptation of the cult-hit horror video game Five Nights at Freddy’s.
James McAvoy is known for roles in a number of films, including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, Split, Glass, Atomic Blonde, Filth, and Wanted. The Scottish actor came to international prominence with his most famous role portraying a young Professor Charles Xavier beginning with X-Men: First Class in 2011. He reprised his role in the subsequent films X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix from 2011 to 2019.
James McAvoy has recently been rumored to be joining the MCU and reprising his role as Charles Xavier. Although Patrick Stewart’s version of Charles Xavier has already recently appeared in the MCU’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, that actor’s age might hinder him from reprising the role moving forward. Many fans think that with McAvoy’s brief appearance in Deadpool 2 and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine’s upcoming role in Deadpool 3, it is quite likely that McAvoy’s version of Charles Xavier could be the one that is involved in the MCU moving forward.
Outside of Speak No Evil, James McAvoy is set to feature in the upcoming film The Book of Clarence in an undisclosed role. Whether or not he joins the MCU, McAvoy has a number of upcoming projects that should have fans excited.
