Sydney Sweeney’s Sleepy Hollow reboot wants He-Man himself as Ichabod Crane
With Sydney Sweeney fronting and producing, Hollow has nabbed a Masters of the Universe alum to take on a role previously played by Johnny Depp.
Hollywood has a habit of digging up old stories, but this one actually sounds rather interesting: Sydney Sweeney is set to play the lead in an upcoming film called Hollow, Sony Pictures’ take on Washington Irving’s classic American folktale. That’s the same ‘Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ you probably read at school, but this time, the perspective shifts to Katrina Van Tassel—played by Sweeney herself, who is also producing the project via her own company, Honey Trap.
And no, she’s not slowing down one bit. After Euphoria made her a household name, she’s been relentless: leading Anyone but You, the surprise hit The Housemaid, and getting her own lingerie business off the ground. She’s even got a first-look deal with Sony, which means more of her projects will turn up sooner rather than later. If that wasn’t enough, Sweeney’s also lined up for the Netflix adaptation of Gundam (that’s due in 2027, by the way) and a period drama called The Custom of the Country with Leo Woodall and Josh Finan.
27 years have passed since the last major Sleepy Hollow film hit cinemas.
Headless Reboot: Who's In?
The studio is apparently near the finish line in talks with Nicholas Galitzine to play Ichabod Crane. Not bad company: Johnny Depp took a swing at the part in Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, Bing Crosby (yes, really) once voiced him in Disney’s animated take, and Tom Mison did his best haunted schoolteacher across four series on TV. Ichabod’s been around. For this new film, though, the whole story gets run through a ‘gothic atmosphere and psychological intrigue’ filter, with some ‘erotic thriller’ bits thrown in for good measure and a ‘contemporary, high-concept’ spin. (Writer-director Lindsey Anderson Beer, who did Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, is handling both the film and adapting the story from her own debut novel.)
Sweeney’s not the only familiar face: Kirsten Dunst, Brittany Snow, Paul Anthony Kelly, and Stephen Kalyn will all show up in The Housemaid's Secret (the sequel, naturally), but for Hollow, it’s Sweeney as Katrina, Galitzine as Ichabod, and now Belmont Cameli (from Off Campus) also attached to the cast. By the way, Galitzine is all over the place this year: the comedy Sheep Detectives, getting ripped for Masters of the Universe as He-Man/Prince Adam, plus Mosquito Bowl (which dropped into cinemas at the end of October and hits Netflix 25 November). If you’ve somehow missed him, he was opposite Anne Hathaway in The Idea of You and in the cultish crowd-pleaser Bottoms. Toss in Red, White, and Royal Blue for good measure.
Behind the Curtain (and Headless Horseman)
What’s genuinely new here? Unlike past adaptations making Ichabod centre-stage, Hollow gives the reins to Katrina, exploring the haunting from her point of view. It’s got the makings of a moodier, possibly steamier, Sleepy Hollow than the 1999 one. No date announced for cinemas yet, but you can bet Sony has high hopes. And let’s be honest—after nearly three decades without a proper Headless Horseman, horror fans and oddballs alike are due another visit to that ghost-infested bridge.