The third film of a series and the first film of a new trilogy. All films of the trilogy are directed by Renny Harlin.
Director Renny Harlin explained lead actress Madelaine Petsch put so much effort into her role explaining, "It took an actor of that caliber and a woman of that kind of intellect who could take this journey, and who had, not just the talent, but the mentality to explore these themes so deeply. I don't know if she's scarred for life for doing this...She went to some places you really shouldn't go."
Renny Harlin simultaneously filmed all three films of this trilogy. The producer explained that the lead star would film scenes for the first film in the morning and scenes for the second in the afternoon, commuting to many different locations for filming several times a day.
The title suggests that it might be a prequel to the 2008 original, however it is not. "The Strangers: Chapter 1" is actually the start of a new era for the franchise, and has two subsequent chapters on the way. It is a new trilogy, only inspired by Bertino's original.
The film's script was originally 280 pages long based off of notes and ideas which director Renny Harlin and producer Courtney Solomon juggled between each other. They then separated the screenplay into three parts which is now planned to be a trilogy of interlocked stories.