Don’t lose your head but “Hollow,” the Sydney Sweeney-led retelling of Washington Irving’s classic tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” has landed at Sony.
The project is based on the forthcoming novel of the same name by Lindsey Anderson Beer, which will be published by Putnam, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in fall 2027. Beer will adapt the novel and direct the film.
Margot Robbie’s LuckChap will produce alongside Sweeney, who will produce through her new Honey Trap banner, which recently signed a first-look deal with Sony. This will be Honey Trap’s first film, which sees Kaylee McGregor serving as President of Production and Development.
According to the official synopsis, “Hollow” will revisit “The Legend of Sleep Hollow,” only this time “told through the perspective of Katrina Van Tassel. Reframing one of literature’s most iconic heroines, the novel positions Van Tassel not as a romantic prize, but as the central figure in a dangerous mystery and seductive supernatural love triangle. The story blends gothic atmosphere, psychological intrigue and erotic thriller elements into a contemporary, high-concept reinvention of the classic tale.”
Perhaps the two most famous adaptations of Irving’s story, originally published in 1820, are the Walt Disney animated adaptation, which appeared as half of the package film “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” released in 1949; and Tim Burton’s Johnny Depp-led adaptation, “Sleepy Hollow,” which arrived in 1999. More recently there was “Sleepy Hollow,” a high-concept detective series that aired on Fox for four seasons from 2013 to 2017.
Sweeney starred in Sony Pictures’ “Anyone but You,” which made over $210 million worldwide. She just wrapped the final season of “Euphoria” and is gearing up for “The Handmaid’s Secret” for Lionsgate, a sequel to last year’s surprise smash.
Beer wrote and directed “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” for Paramount+ and wrote and executive produced “Sierra Burgess Is a Loser” for Netflix, both of which were huge hits for their respective streamers. According to the official release, Beer is “a go-to writer, director and producer known for building worlds and character-driven, and authored takes on big-hook ideas.”
Sweeney is repped by Brillstein and Hansen Jacobson; Beer is repped by Brillstein, WME, and Gang Tyre Ramer; and LuckyChap is repped by CAA, Entertainment 360, Narrative, and Attorney Jeff Bernstein.
