Stephen Dorff is to take the lead role in Leatherface, an upcoming prequel to classic horror The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, reports Deadline.
The new film follows a violent teenage mental hospital patient who will one day become the chainsaw-wielding cannibal first seen in Tobe Hooper’s 1974 gorefest. Dorff plays a deranged lawman named Hartman who sets out in pursuit of the young Leatherface when he escapes and goes on the run with three fellow inmates and a kidnapped nurse.
French horror specialists Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo will direct, with the film set up at Millennium Films, best known for the Expendables series. The screenplay is by little-known writer Seth M Sherwood.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a surprise hit on release, despite being banned in various countries. Three sequels were released in 1986, 1990 and 1995, and the film was remade by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes company in 2003, receiving short shrift from critics. A prequel to the remake followed in 2006, and a seventh film, Texas Chainsaw 3D, was released last year.
Dorff will next be seen in political drama Oliver’s Deal opposite David Strathairn and comedy Sex Guaranteed.
