EXCLUSIVE: I gave you an early Valentine’s Day gift when I broke the news that writer-director Josh Ruben (Scare Me, Werewolves Within) is sharpening his knife for a Heart Eyes sequel and had recently completed a script.
Screen Gems’ holiday slasher built momentum through strong word of mouth, leading to an unusually robust second weekend at the box office, a rarity for most films. It ultimately grossed $33 million worldwide, paving the way for sequel discussions.
In the film, a masked maniac with glowing, red eyes returns every Valentine’s Day to slaughter unsuspecting couples. When a cynical ad executive and her hopelessly romantic colleague become the next target, they decide to fight back and end the reign of terror. It starred Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding, both of whom survived the murders.
I also broke the news this past February that Mason Gooding is in talks to return as Jay Simmonds, Holt’s love interest. Now, DREAD CENTRAL can exclusively report that Olivia Holt is also in talks to reprise her role as Ally McCabe!
Heart Eyes 2 could go into production as early as this summer. Ruben is also prepping for Wilderness Reform, another Paramount project announced late last year.
Last February, Ruben shared his vision for how he would approach a sequel… or sequels.
“I’ll put it this way: You could replicate the structure of any great rom-com, from His Girl Friday to Defending Your Life, and you could drop Heart Eyes into the center of that story, and have him flash and slash about,” he told Variety.
“That’s what’s exciting about this: There’s an opportunity that we could have whoever the filmmaker was — certainly, I’d be interested — genuinely trying to create or replicate that rom-com, or the feeling of a Bridget Jones or Love Actually or what have you, but actually have those people terrified by this psychopathic killer.”
Keep your eyes on DREAD CENTRAL. We’ll keep you posted on official updates as they come in.
