Spooky season is in full swing, which means plenty of movie fans will flock to Tim Burton’s beloved seasonal classic “Sleepy Hollow.” But not the director of the new upcoming movie adaptation — filmmaker Lindsey Anderson Beer is intentionally steering clear of the Halloween classic.
Beer’s “Pet Sematary” prequel just landed on Paramount+, and next up, she’s set to reteam with Paramount to write, direct and produce a new retelling of the beloved American ghost story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
“Whenever I’m adapting something, if it’s been adapted before on film, I don’t rewatch the movies. You just can’t,” Beer told TheWrap. “I didn’t while making ‘Pet Sematary,’ I just kept rereading the books. And it’s the same thing for ‘Sleepy Hollow.’”
Of course, the story of the headless horseman that haunts and taunts a small village has been famously adapted to the screen several times in both film and television. From silent film to Disney animation to a four-season run on Fox — and of course, Burton’s gothic, atmospheric 1999 adaptation — “Sleepy Hollow” has carved its way into America’s spooky psyche across generations. And that includes Beer.
“I loved the Tim Burton film so much as a kid,” she continued. “I just rewatched it and rewatched it. And the pillars of that story — the romance, the spookiness, the airiness — that lives in my heart. I don’t need to rewatch the film to know that.”
So where does Beer draw inspiration from during development?
“Certainly, I have been diving into real lore from the Hudson Valley, the origins of the headless horsemen and just doing a lot of research,” she said. “And also just doing a lot of visual research about, about the era and the area.”
That included a recent trip to the Hudson Valley, the real-life location that inspired Washington Irving’s 1820 story.
“I went and visited over the summer actually,” Beer said. “You start with the real thing and then you go where your mind takes you.”
“Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” is now streaming on Paramount+.
