Posted in: Movies, Searchlight | Tagged: Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come: Small Horror Film Gains A Grand Mythology

The directors of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come wanted to give the film a "grand mythology" much like that of John Wick and Terminator.

It's not uncommon for people to see that a movie gets a sequel, and you go, "Did we really need that?" Ready or Not is one of those movies. The ending is set up in a way that things already weren't going to end well for our heroine, so getting that information definitively wasn't going to move the needle unless something big happened. The people behind Ready or Not 2: Here I Come seem very aware that they could have easily rested on their laurels, but they decided to take inspiration not from any recent horror franchises, but from two of the biggest action franchises ever. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, better known as Radio Silence, spoke to Empire about giving their small horror movie a grand mythology.

"I remember feeling so excited by the idea of, 'What if we did for this small horror movie what we've seen done with the John Wick universe and Terminator and these other movies that have this big, grand mythology?'" Bettinelli-OIpin explained.

Part of that expansion did come with a minor retcon from the previous film. One of the big points of the last movie was that Grace (Samara Weaving) was alone; she had no family, which was why she was so eager to join the Le Domas Family. The retcon in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come comes in the form of Kathryn Newton as Grace's long-lost sister, Faith.

"We were like, 'Kathryn and Sam have such similar but different energies, they would be so fucking good as sisters'," recalls Gillett. "We were obsessed with this idea." They seem excited about the idea, so hopefully it won't be as awkward as it looks right now.

Weaving and Newton have become modern-day Scream Queens in their own right in the last few years, but it's the supporting cast where we see some classics of the genre make an appearance. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Néstor Carbonell, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Durand are just some of the supporting cast, and most of them have been running around the genre for a while. Bettinelli-Olpin explains that the casting says a lot about the film itself, explaining, "The mix of them is really suggestive of the tone of this movie. There's a poppiness and something so fun with Sarah Michelle Gellar, and there's gravitas with Cronenberg, and then you have Sam and Kathryn, who've both done the horror-comedy thing so well."

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come recently shifted its release date, so it's not releasing the same weekend as They Will Kill You, which seems similar in themes if nothing else. However, two weekends of films where the rich are quite literally sacrificing the poor and working class so they can maintain their wealth? Oh no, two weeks of horror with a chip on its shoulder and teeth; sounds incredible.

Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come – Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Moments after surviving an all-out attack from the Le Domas family, Grace (Samara Weaving) discovers she's reached the next level of the nightmarish game — and this time with her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) at her side. Grace has one chance to survive, keep her sister alive, and claim the High Seat of the Council that controls the world. Four rival families are hunting her for the throne, and whoever wins rules it all.

Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, stars Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Néstor Carbonell, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng, Varun Saranga, and Daniel Beirne. It will be released on March 20, 2026.

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