10 Upcoming Horror Movie Castings That Have Us Excited

Bet you're literally dying to see who they've got for Salem's Lot, Scream and The Exorcist.

Renfield Nicolas Cage
Universal

2022 was a great year for horror, kicking off new series like Ti West's X trilogy, closing out existing ones like David Gordon Green's Halloween, and delivering some fresh standalone scares like Parker Finn's Smile. And if we've learned anything from these flicks, it is the value of excellent casting, whether that's Mia Goth as a new breed of scream queen, James Jude Courtney's iconic take on the Shape, or the rise of largely untapped talent like Caitlin Stasey.

While 2023 is also shaping up to be a strong contender in the genre, with Gerard Johnstone's M3GAN and M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin already out of the gate with perfectly pitched castings all round, there are a bunch of stars falling into alignment that really have us talking. With the return of horror classics like The Exorcist, adaptations of well-known properties like Five Nights at Freddy's, and original projects like Night Swim, casting is key -- and, in these cases, we think they've got it spot on!

It's time to peek through the curtains and check under the bed, looking out and ahead at what -- and who -- is on the way.

10. Tatiana Maslany -- Green Bank

Renfield Nicolas Cage
NBC

Tatiana Maslany hit the ground running with sci-fi thriller series Orphan Black back in 2013, in which she played 17 different cloned characters, and she has hardly stopped since, including recently drawing equal parts acclaim and ire from the online Marvel fandom for her portrayal of fan-favourite comic book character She-Hulk.

For our five cents, her casting in Josh Ruben's Green Bank is a win. Not to be confused with Spike Lee's least favourite road movie, Green Bank is currently in pre-production, and will follow an infant sleep-trainer (because that's a thing?) who uncovers a strange secret about the parents of the child she’s working with. The script situates the action in a US town where, conveniently, wi-fi, phone service and radio transmissions are forbidden, but not a whole lot more is known at present.

Maslany's forays into horror may have been few and far between recently, but she has her roots in the genre, starring in a string of them around the beginning of her film career, including George A Romero's Diary of the Dead (2007). Having been lost on rom-coms and dramas in the last few years, it will be great to see Maslany bring some of the range she displayed on Orphan Black to the silver screen with a director whose recent efforts (such as 2020's Scare Me), have comfortably straddled multiple genres.

Contributor
Contributor

Writer, editor and lifelong critic of test screenings, money men and films-by-committee.