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'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' sequel changes directors one week into production

Tom Butler
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment UK
·2 min read
Gunnar Hansen raises his weapon in frustration in the final scene of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.
Gunnar Hansen raises his weapon in frustration in the final scene of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.

Legendary’s new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film has drafted in a new director just one week into production, according to a report on Deadline.

The horror film, which is being billed as a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper’s 1974 original, had been shooting for a week in Bulgaria until Northern Irish directors Andy and Ryan Tohill quit the project over ‘creative differences’. Award-winning cinematographer David Blue Garcia has been drafted in as their replacement.

The report says the last minute personnel change was ‘abrupt’, and was made because ‘Legendary didn’t spark to what it saw’. Texas-born Garcia, who made his feature directing debut in 2018 with Tejano, is said to be starting shooting the film again from scratch.

Actors Gunnar Hansen (front left) as Leatherface, Jim Siedow (front right) as Old Man, John Dugan (back right) as Grandfather and Edwin Neal (back left) as Hitchhiker in a publicity shot for the slasher film 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Actors Gunnar Hansen (front left) as Leatherface, Jim Siedow (front right) as Old Man, John Dugan (back right) as Grandfather and Edwin Neal (back left) as Hitchhiker in a publicity shot for the slasher film 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

The new film is set in the present day and will bring back the original film’s antagonist Leatherface as a 60-year-old to wreak havoc in the 21st century. Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Sarah Yarkin (Happy Death Day 2U), Jacob Latimore (The Maze Runner) and Moe Dunford (Vikings) will star.

Read more: Inside Texas Chain Saw’s gruelling shoot, 45 years on

Hooper’s terrifying 1974 film – released as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – was hailed as a horror masterpiece when it was first released, spawning seven sequels, the most recent – Leatherface, technically a prequel – coming in 2017. 2013’s Texas Chainsaw 3D was also billed as a direct sequel to Hooper’s original film, and although a minor box office hit, it was slated by critics.

Legendary Pictures, the studio behind the Jurassic World and Godzilla franchises, acquired the Texas Chainsaw rights in 2018, and set Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez as producer on a new film.