Sydney Sweeney's Erotic Reimagining Of A Supernatural Classic Is Switching Protagonists After 206 Years

Published Nov 14, 2026, 12:21 PM EST Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW. An upcoming Sydney Sweeney erotic thriller will totally reinvent a 206-year-old horror tale - and make her character the protagonist for the very first time. After experimenting with various genres like superhero movies (Madame Webb) or biopics (Christy), Sydney Sweeney's R-rated thrillers have quickly become her most reliable performers. Sweeney's The Housemaid grossed an incredible $400 million, for example, and a sequel is already on the way. Likewise, she gave one of her best performances in horror thriller Immaculate, while 2021's The Voyeurs has become a reliable streaming hit. Amongst Sydney Sweeney's upcoming movies is Hollow, billed as a radical reinvention of Washington Irving's 1820 short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Hollow will be written and directed by Lindsey Anderson Beer (Pet Sematary: Bloodlines), and based on her novel of the same name. While it shares the same basic setup as the original story, it is being sold as an erotic thriller that focuses as much on the love triangle between Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, and Katrina Van Tassel as it does on The Headless Horseman. It will also make Katrina the lead character, and may even suggest a supernatural link between her and The Horseman. Sydney Sweeney's Hollow Makes Katrina Van Tassel The Main Character Image credit: Daniel McFadden / © Lionsgate / Courtesy Everett Collection In both Irving's short tale and its subsequent movie and TV adaptations, Katrina is framed as the love interest for Crane. The love triangle element was always there, and - spoilers for a 200-year-old story - she ends up marrying Brom following Crane's disappearance. Both the upcoming Hollow novel and its movie adaptation will tell the story from Katrina's perspective, where she yearns to break free of her controlling parents while sensing she has some connection to the murders being committed by The Horseman. In all previous Sleepy Hollow adaptations, the timid Ichabod has been the lead, with the 1999 Tim Burton movie reinventing him as a New York constable instead of a schoolteacher. Beer's book is remixing the core elements of Washington's text, and making Katrina into much more than a spoiled romantic prize to be won by either Crane or her smarmy suitor Brom. Hollow sounds like it will be spicing up this dynamic, as Deadline's story specifically describes it as an "erotic thriller." Presumably, this means it will be R-rated too, as the combo of decapitations and eroticism will make it tough to land a PG-13. The movie is smart to make Sweeney the lead too, as she has made a name for herself with thrillers and horror in the past five years. Hollow's Reinvention Of The Classic Horror Story Is What Makes It Exciting While other The Legend of Sleepy Hollow adaptations have attempted to reinvent the story - including Fox's Sleepy Hollow procedural series - the Sydney Sweeney version will be approaching it from an entirely new angle. Another faithful adaptation wouldn't have been exciting anyway, and while the broad strokes of the story will still be present, making Katrina the driving force is what gives Hollow such an exciting premise. Scratch & Peek Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible. The novel won't be published until mid-2027, but the opening chapter is available to read via the official Penguin website. This prologue gives insight into how Beer will handle Katrina, including a glimpse at a nightmare she has where The Headless Horseman chases her and carries a head in his hand: her head, as it turns out. It also details how the Van Tassel family is almost broke, and that Katrina's parents want to marry her off to a wealthy family to restore their fortunes. Hollow is making Katrina a more three-dimensional figure, and her dream very much suggests there will be a mysterious connection between her and the Headless Horseman that will drive the narrative. It's easy to see what drew Sweeney to the project, as it takes a beloved story while updating it for a new audience. Sydney Sweeney Has A Strong Track Record With Horror Hollow will also be added to the ever-increasing roster of Sydney Sweeney horror movies. Many of Sweeney's earliest credits were in the genre, including John Carpenter's The Ward, and horror has given her some of her best roles. The aforementioned Immaculate from 2024 offered an update on psychological thrillers like Rosemary's Baby, where Sweeney gives an incredible turn as a naive nun who undergoes quite a dramatic transformation. While The Housemaid can't quite be labeled as horror, it definitely has elements of the genre sprinkled on it. While it might be considered the most disreputable genre (or at least it used to be), horror often gives actresses their most complex roles. From Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs to Toni Collette in Hereditary, the best examples deliver on both the scares and compelling stories. Hollow will hopefully do both, and Sweeney clearly sees something in the movie as an actor and producer. A big-budget, erotic thriller that breathes new life into a gothic classic should be an easy sell - especially with Sweeney's horror background. Sydney Sweeney's Hollow Still Has To Be Tim Burton's Classic Adaptation Whenever Sleepy Hollow is brought up nowadays, Tim Burton's 1999 adaptation has become the default version everyone thinks of. While it changed key details and certainly upped the levels of gore, it's a witty, fun and visually gorgeous horror from Burton's heyday. It also features the most compelling live-action version of Katrina Van Tassel, with Christina Ricci giving the character an ethereal quality. Just like Hollow, Ricci's Katrina is shown to have a history with the Headless Horseman. The film is like a big-budget version of a classic Hammer Horror movie, and is absolutely the adaptation Hollow will need to live up to. That won't be easy, and while Lindsay Anderson Beer's Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is more fun than its dismal reviews suggest, it's a tall order to expect her to beat one of Tim Burton's best movies. One ace the upcoming film has up its sleeve is that it is so different from previous Sleepy Hollow adaptations. It is a ground-up reinvention with one of the most bankable actresses in the business, and one that will mix gothic romance with horror and eroticism. At the very least, it's hard to imagine Hollow being a dull ride. The worst thing the film could do is try to play it safe and opt for a tame, Twilight-style supernatural love triangle situation. With Sweeney and Lindsay Anderson Beer involved, there is little danger of that, but whether Hollow can beat Tim Burton's take is another question entirely. Source: Deadline, Penguin