For six years now, horror fans have been waiting for Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come – Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s follow-up to theircult slasher classic. And Empire VIPs got an exclusive first-look at the film in a members-only screening, followed by a live Q&A with its directors. The film sees original Scream Queen Samara Weaving return, this time joined by her sister, played by Kathryn Newton, as they find themselves hunted down by a bunch of bloodthirsty elites – including icon and famed vampire slayer Sarah Michelle Gellar, who didn’t let the directors forget her Buffy roots. Needless to say, heads roll as a fresh game of hide-and-seek reaps more gory results.
In the Q&A, the filmmakers revealed that having The Slayer in the cast meant they had to get creative with the weaponry, as Gellar had used almost every weapon imaginable during her Buffy years. “It happened with every weapon we gave her,” they told Empire. “We had a crossbow as her weapon for a minute, and Sarah was like, ‘Guys, Buffy had a crossbow!’” To up the ante in some of the film’s bigger, more explosive set-pieces, the duo even introduced a rocket launcher into the film. Bettinelli-Olpin says Gellar had a quick response: “‘You know I used a rocket launcher’”. (See Season 2 episode ‘Innocence’)
Across films like Ready Or Not, Scream and Abigail, the directing pair have worked with plenty of icons, including Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell. Now they can add David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood and Gellar to that list. Gillett spoke about the chance of collaborating with such legendary actors. “We’ve only ever met our heroes and ever had the most wonderful and lovely experience,” he told the Empire VIPs. Not bad considering they’ve covered those heroes in buckets of blood.
With the directing duo set to tackle a follow-up to The Mummy next, who knows – maybe they’ll need Sunnydale’s finest in the cast to add some bite.
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