Once again, rather strangely, heading to British TV for its young cast, Texas Chainsaw Massacre** prequel Leatherface has just gained Jessica Madsen. The Mr. Selfridge actress joins Sam Strike (Eastenders) and James Bloor (DCI Banks).
The new Chainsaw film follows 2013's hapless Texas Chainsaw 3D as the eighth film in the scrappy franchise. It's the second to be called Leatherface, following Jeff Burr's third instalment in 1990 starring a young Viggo Mortensen. It's also the second attempt at a prequel, after Jonathan Liebesman's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning in 2006.
Like Liebesman's film, the new Leatherface is following the hulking killer's early years in the 1970s, although in this case we'll find him in his teens before he dons the mask and picks up the saw. It seems to be a mystery revolving around three teenage psychopaths, one of whom will grow up brain William Vail with a hammer and endlessly chase Marilyn Burns.
Strike and Bloor are two of them, while Madsen will play an escaped mental patient. Stephen Dorff is also in the cast as a deranged Texas lawman: a Texas Deranger, if you will.
Directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo previously directed Inside, starring Béatrice Dalle, which is good enough to make Leatherface a more interesting prospect than it otherwise might have been. The up-and-coming Seth M. Sherwood wrote the screenplay, and pre-production is currently underway for an expected release next year.