Disney teen sensation Bella Thorne is set to star in the next Amityville Horror flick, The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes, as recently reported by The Wrap. This makes two horror/thriller pics on Thorne’s upcoming slate. Her first will be this year in Voltage Pictures’ and Zinc Entertainment, Inc.’s Home Invasion, also starring The Walking Dead’s Chandler Riggs. Like many child stars before her, Thorne appears to be going through the Hollywood teenage rite of passage. Known for her role as Cece Jones in Disney’s popular TV Series Shake it Up!, Thorne seems to be making a transition to more mainstream projects. Now at 17 years of age, Thorne is poised to run the gamut of teenage horror popcorn movies like so many movie actresses have done before her. Let’s not (or let’s!) forget Jennifer Love Hewitt’s and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s (perhaps Thorne should include her middle name from here on out?) teenage horror phases that included these gems you may or not recall, namely 1997’s box office hits I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream 2. Hewitt followed those in 1998 with a sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Gellar continued well into her twenties with another horror/thriller franchise, starring in The Grudge (2004) and The Grudge 2 (2006).
Hewitt herself was a child star known for The Disney Channel’s Kids Incorporated (1989-1991) and has gone on to a mildly successful career in movies and television. Most notably, she was the star of the recently ended TV Series The Client List for Lifetime. Gellar was widely known as the titular character in the popular TV Series Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1996-2003) and is still actively appearing in feature films, most recently lending her voice for the independent animated feature Freedom Force (2013).
Now it’s Thorne’s turn to pay her dues, and we’ll see if she can connect with a wider audience. A sequel to 2005’s relatively successful remake of 1979’s The Amityville Horror could be a fitting arena in which to test her mainstream appeal. She will have a little help from Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is also set to star.
Franck Khalfoun (Maniac) will direct the picture for Blumhouse Productions and Dimension Films. The film is set to release some time in 2015.
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