Following the recent casting of Dave Bautista, The Wrap reports Pretty Little Liars alum Lucy Hale is currently in talks for the role of Melanie in Blumhouse and Sony’s upcoming Fantasy Island, a film adaptation of the classic ABC series. The feature would reunite Hale and director Jeff Wadlow who both have previously worked on the 2018 horror film Truth or Dare.
Hale would be joining Michael Pena (Ant Man and The Wasp), Dave Bautista (Avengers: Infinity War) and Jimmy O. Yang (Crazy Rich Asians). Pena will be the film lead star as Mister Roarke, the island’s mysterious host played by Ricardo Montalban in the original TV show. While Bautista and Yang will be playing guests of the island.
The film is described as being a tonal mix of Westworld meets The Cabin in the Woods, centering on a group of contest winners who arrive at an island hotel to live out their dreams, only to find themselves trapped in nightmare scenarios.
Fantasy Island ran on ABC from 1977-1984 and quickly became a fan-favorite. The island drama dealt with dark themes and the supernatural with a little bit of cheesiness as visitors would come to the island to live out their fantasies. Guests could request any fantasy on the unique resort island in the Pacific Ocean, overseen by the mysterious Mr. Roarke (originally played by Ricardo Montalban) and Hervé Villechaize’s Tattoo, but those fantasies rarely turned out as expected as visitors found themselves facing challenges that tested their character.
Jeff Wadlow will direct the big screen adaptation from a script he is writing with Chris Roach and Jillian Jacobs. Jason Blum is set to produce with Wadlow also serving as executive producer alongside Blumhouse’s Couper Samuelson. Ryan Turek will be overseeing the project for Blumhouse and Matt Milan overseeing for Sony.
Blumhouse’s recent features include The First Purge, Unfriended: Dark Web, and Upgrade. Upcoming projects include the return of Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode in the Halloween sequel, M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass starring Bruce Willis, James McAvoy, and Samuel L. Jackson in the third installment of a trilogy that includes previous features Unbreakable and Split, and Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman.
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